XDefiant's GSK Faction Could Be a Sign of Things to Come

Summary

XDefiant's first in-game season launching on July 2 promises new content like maps, operators, weapons, and game modes for fans to enjoy.
The addition of the GSK faction, featuring Rainbow Six characters, hints at potential collaborations between XDefiant and Rainbow Six Siege.
With tactical gameplay elements from popular franchises like Rainbow Six Siege, XDefiant could stand out in the saturated hero and arena shooter markets.

The first in-game season for XDefiant is set to launch on July 2, and it is already shaping up to give the game a much-needed boost of fresh content. While the title is still understandably finding its feet in terms of weapon balancing and movement fine-tuning, fans have a lot to look forward to when Season One finally comes out. Like many modern releases, new maps, operators, weapons, and game modes are set to be at the center of these in-game seasons.

For example, the development team for XDefiant recently confirmed that iconic game modes like Team Deathmatch and Search and Destroy will be coming to the title in the near future, although it is unclear if these will be introduced in time for the launch of Season One. It is known, however, that a brand-new faction will be coming to XDefiant with the release of Season One, known as GSK. Fans of Rainbow Six Siege may recognize GSK as a part of Team Rainbow, and Ubisoft may have only just begun tapping into a collaborative goldmine with the tactical shooter.

The Collaborations Between XDefiant and Rainbow Six Siege Are Probably Just Beginning

XDefiant is a blend of two very popular genres: hero shooters and arena shooters, with both of these game types having very saturated markets. It was always obvious that a project like XDefiant would need a unique selling point to stand out in the crowd, and Ubisoft has achieved this by leveraging the many franchises that fall under its name.

XDefiant already features playable factions from a range of Ubisoft's most popular IPs, with factions from Far Cry, Watch Dogs, The Division, Ghost Recon, and Splinter Cell being present. This makes the free-to-play XDefiant a unique celebration of Ubisoft's greatest hits, and there are still some massively popular franchises that are yet to be introduced. While rumors suggest that an Assassin's Creed faction is set to be added at some point, it is already confirmed that Rainbow Six Siege is about to make an explosive entrance in XDefiant.

Alongside new weapons, game modes, and maps, the GSK faction will be added to XDefiant on July 2, seemingly featuring the Rainbow Six characters Bandit, Jager, and Blitz as its playable operators. From the first looks at this new faction, it seems that GSK will have new abilities inspired by Rainbow Six such as deployable barbed wire, Jager's ADS trophy system, a new explosive ability, and an ultimate ability involving a riot shield.

XDefiant Can Shift Between Arena and Tactical Gameplay Through More Rainbow Six Siege Collaborations

While Rainbow Six has a much more tactical gameplay focus compared to XDefiant, the inbound addition of tense modes like Search and Destroy could perfectly lend themselves to more Rainbow Six-inspired mechanics. Siege is by far the most popular and established shooter that currently falls under the Ubisoft name, and XDefiant has almost a decade of Rainbow Six content to borrow from going forward.

For example, Rainbow Six has a staggering 71 playable operators to choose from, each with unique abilities and weapon selections, and XDefiant can borrow from this pool for the foreseeable future. It seems likely that Rainbow Six will end up having multiple factions in XDefiant, perhaps focusing on different defensive and offensive abilities, but this ultimately seems like the perfect way to offer a more tactical side to the game. As the scope of XDefiant's gameplay grows through new post-launch game modes, Rainbow Six Siege may provide the perfect base of content to help ease the title into whatever comes next.