XDefiant dev responds to calls for classic CoD Prestige system

XDefiant is said to be Ubisoft’s take on classic Call of Duty gameplay, and this has many players asking its developers whether it’ll include classic features recent Call of Duty titles have lacked. Now, a dev has responded to one such topic, the Prestige system.

Ubisoft’s upcoming fast-paced 6v6 multiplayer shooter, XDefiant, borrows plenty of gameplay elements from legacy Call of Duty titles. It has already addressed some of the biggest complaints about the recent few CoD games, like SBMM. 

One of the other frustrations for many Call of Duty players is the current Prestige system. Earlier titles in the series would reset your progression entirely when you entered Prestige, but the stakes in recent ones aren’t high as all the progression is retained.  

On X (formerly Twitter), user JoseA asked Mark Rubin, Executive Producer of XDefiant, whether the Prestige system will “be like old CoDs.”

We're designing that system as we speak. We want to have the classic prestige system but we also recognize that while games like CoD you get a new set of prestiges every year (ala new game) and we are a game designed to last for years so looking at possibly yearly prestiges.

— Mark Rubin (@PixelsofMark) January 3, 2024

To which Mark Rubin first said they’re “designing that system as we speak.” Rubin did not provide finer details on the Prestige system for XDefiant but alluded to the similar Prestige system as the legacy CoD title, but it’ll reset yearly. 

The Prestige system provides additional progression once you’ve hit the maximum level cap. Rubin notes that since Call of Duty releases every year, it gives fans a “new set of prestiges” each year.

But with XDefiant being a live title, the traditional Prestige wouldn’t be ideal, as the rank will stop once you’ve hit the highest rank, and there is no going forward chasing ranks for the entire game’s lifespan without a refresh. If ranks are unlimited, it may get stale for some players as there is no end or starting anew. Many would also not want to have their progression reset every few months.

As Rubin said in his tweet, “We are a game designed to last for years so looking at possibly yearly prestiges.”

Considering all that, players have already reacted positively to the idea of yearly Prestige, saying, “Yearly Prestiges is good!” Of course, plenty of details may change as XDefiant is still in development with no set release date, and devs are still designing the many specifics of the game as per Mark Rubin.

For more on XDefiant, check out early details on Ranked Play and all the different Factions.