So XDefiant has been out for almost a month now and I am already incredibly excited for the game’s future in esports. Mark Rubin, the Executive Producer of XDefiant, has been incredibly open about the current state of the game and what plans are currently in the works to correct its main issues. Going as far as to reply to people on Twitter who give feedback and ask questions.

With that in mind, I figured I would throw my hat in the ring and give some suggestions for additional features that would help in growing XDefiant as a legitimate esport. This video will focus on private matches and the in-game observer mode. I will not be discussing ranked play or the competitive scene at large as there are people who are much better than me at this game who will have better opinions on that topic. What I want to focus on in this video are tools that would help production crews create clean, high-quality broadcasts for XDefiant when the competitive scene starts to move forward.

For those who may be new to esports, observer mode is a set of tools that allows a player to join a game and watch the game live. More than that, it allows for a custom viewing experience that features score overlays, kill feeds, and camera views which can produce creative ways of viewing a match. Almost all esport titles have some version of this mode and they all contain different sets of tools to be used by the in-game observer, who will then send this view via a video feed to a production team to output to a stream.

XDefiant has a lot of potential as an esport and with how open they have been with the community throughout the development process, that potential grows as the competitive scene starts to form. With this being a brand-new title and franchise, during a time where esports are bigger than they have ever been, the grassroots beginnings could be the best kickstart for a thriving esport ecosystem ever.

Player View

A lot of these features should be a given, but with being disappointed in the Call of Duty observer mode in recent years, I want to make sure I hit my marks.

During Call of Duty League broadcasts, something viewers will see often is the observers switching from a portrait view of players in the match, a view that shows the players’ faces, and a stat view, a view that shows the players’ stats including kills, deaths, killstreak, objective time, etc.

For XDefiant, since factions are a thing, this should be a combined view. The observer view from Black Ops 4 should be the main reference point for this. Show the character portrait and below it, show the player’s ability cooldowns, utility, and stats. Main stats to show would be kills, deaths, assists, and objective time.

Minimap

Again, another given from most esports titles. However, for viewers that are fans of the Halo Championship Series, they will notice that even after 2 years of Halo: Infinite, a minimap still does not appear on HCS broadcasts.

Shoutout LVT Halo for trying to make one in their broadcasts.

Minimaps, which show all player locations as well as current objectives, are essential for esports broadcasts. It allows viewers to see as much as possible even when the observers are switching between player point-of-views. It also gives players and coaches extra tools to use when reviewing their games after the fact.

I recognize that there will probably be some difficulty for a minimap view on certain modes, mainly zone control and escort, where the map expands after certain points in the game. I do not have a game developer background, so what I suggest to solve this issue may not be easily done. Overwatch 2, which contains an escort-style game mode, does not have a minimap in its observer view for this. If this was added in the future, however, it would only enhance the viewing experience on those broadcasts.

If these minimaps cannot be fully shown because of how much the map expands, my suggestion would be to change the minimap when new sections are open. For example, when playing zone control on Midway, when zones A and B are captured and C opens, replace the minimap with the new parts of the map that are open for play. This allows for a more focused view on the current objective for the offense as well as providing another visual cue of progression in the game.

If for whatever reason this solution is not possible, having a full minimap, even if the details will be small on the UI, will be preferable over no minimap at all.

Free Cam Tools

This is another one of those things that might be a tough ask from a game developer perspective, but this is just a wish list at the end of the day.

As with most esports-oriented titles, XDefiant’s observer mode will likely contain a free cam view, allowing the observer to roam around the map freely instead of being locked to player point of views. This could be enhanced by additional tools that give free cam observers more chances to be creative and get certain viewpoints that will upgrade the viewing experience. What immediately comes to mind is a dolly cam feature, where an observer can place “dolly points” that will create a camera move in-game. For example, if the game mode is currently Occupy, observers can place these points around the control zone. After placing these points, they then hit “play” and the camera will move through the set points and create a cool-looking camera pan around the point.

Obviously, this type of move can be done in ordinary free cam and many observers across multiple titles are known for completing these types of camera moves beautifully. The possibilities that would be created from this dolly cam tool, however, would be endless and esports productions involving XDefiant would be better with it.

A current example of this is the static camera tool in Overwatch 2, where you can set up to 10 camera points and move through them with custom speeds. This tool is heavily used in Overwatch productions and is an invaluable tool for observing matches.

For an older example of this being done, take a look at the theater mode from Black Ops 2. Although this could not be done in live games, Black Ops 2 allowed you to view replays of previously played games and add free cam dolly points to create the camera moves I am referring to. This was a common tool used for sniping montages back in the day, which is what got me started on the esports journey I am taking part in today.

Custom Team Names, Colors, and Logos

Custom teams and colors are fairly standard across esports titles. For XDefiant though, I want to take it a step further.

For adding team colors, in Call of Duty for example, observers are usually given a color palette to select from.

In XDefiant, it would be amazing if there was a way to import hex code colors into the color selector. This would be great for representing esports organizations who compete in major tournaments. It would also allow for greater options for observers to use overall, which is always a good thing to have.

On top of custom colors, the ability to upload custom logos for teams would be an incredible touch. For reference, I look to MLB The Show which allows for logo creation and upload for its Diamond Dynasty mode. For a better esports example, NBA 2K allows for custom courts to be uploaded and used for private games. This would be another way to integrate esports organization branding into the games. Most productions for Call of Duty and Halo have to rely on graphical overlays for team branding. Removing that and allowing that work to be done in-game would create a cleaner product since productions don’t have to worry about switching these overlays off between in-game rounds.

There will obviously be a moderation issue that arises from allowing the community to upload custom logos. Anyone who has played games like Black Ops 1 and Black Ops 2 that contain emblem editors know this well. Maybe the counter to that is to not allow for a database, but for the assets to be local to the observer’s game client.

Safe Zones for Player Cams & Other Graphical Elements

This is a small thing and pretty low on the wish list, but would be beneficial and would create a great standard for broadcasting XDefiant.

For most games, this happens on accident, but having defined “safe zones” for extra graphics and other overlays including sponsors and player cams would be nice to have. This way, productions who may not regularly broadcast XDefiant do not have to guess a location when creating graphics. A simple, “here are safe spots on the screen where you can place graphics” would suffice. Even if this information is not available in-game, being tweeted out or posted somewhere would be perfect.

Conclusion

That is my wish list for XDefiant esports from a production perspective. I want to reiterate that I do not possess any video game design background and therefore completely understand that there may be and probably are technical limitations to the ideas I described.

My thought for that is this, if Ubisoft does not wish to include these things, allow modders to make them as 3^rd party services. There is obviously risk in allowing such things, but there are plenty of examples of this exact thing being done in other titles, such as Rocket League and the Broadcast Assistant for Rocket League (BARL) plugin. This plugin allows production crews to import custom overlays for private matches among other tools that are made available. This creates a standard for Rocket League broadcasts and makes observing 10 times easier and eliminates the need for rougher overlay graphics. Everything is in-game, so the viewing experience is seamless.

I hope Mark Rubin and the rest of the XDefiant developer team will be as open to these suggestions as they have been with other facets of the game since its launch. If any further discussion is wanted, I can be found on Twitter @Robert_Morison and my DMs are always open.

If there are any things that I may have missed that would be good to add, feel free to let me know!