XDefiant dev responds to backlash over major movement update
After a major update to movement in XDefiant, players are unhappy over the jump spam penalties. Some feel it’s not enough, while others think it’s ruined the movement, leading to a response from one of the developers.
XDefiant’s June 12 update introduced the promised movement update to help counter jump spamming, also known as bunny hopping. The devs decided to introduce a penalty for players who spam jump by adding sway and spread to their weapon after four jumps.
While it seems reasonable at first, this change has left the XDefiant community dissatisfied, with some thinking it’s insufficient, while others believe it’s too harsh.
Players took to social media to discuss the aim sway penalty, which occurs on the fourth consecutive jump. Some feel a penalty on four jumps is pointless, believing that it should happen after two.
This is because they feel that the player jump spamming will be able to perform the movement and secure a kill before reaching the penalty. On the other hand, others dislike the change and feel it has ruined XDefiant’s fast-paced movement, which is one of the game’s main appeals.
This led to game developer ACHES responding on X and sharing a deeper explanation of the movement penalty in XDefiant. The dev explained that the movement penalty has been introduced to “minimize the excessiveness” of spammy movements while retaining the core mechanics.
After four jumps, players will experience ADS sway gradually until it reaches the max. The sway lasts for 1.25 seconds and can be reset by not jumping for that period of time. This gives players three jumps penalty-free.
This is their first iteration of the movement penalties, and they still want to retain the fast-paced movement players have been enjoying in XDefiant. SO, ACHES makes it clear that they will “continue to monitor, listen, and evaluate” the impact of this change for “future movement updates.”
So, XDefiant players can expect more movement tweaks and updates in the future, as the devs aim to find the perfect balance between fast-paced, smooth movement and over-the-top spam.
Movement wasn’t the only tweak in the June 12 update for XDefiant, as Snipers were also hit with a nerf after player complaints regarding the lack of flinch ahead of Season 1.