Ubisoft Arena Shooter XDefiant Removes Tom Clancy Name After Backlash

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Ubisoft's recent announcement of XDefiant's Insider Sessions on PC also saw the publisher confirm the arena shooter no longer bears the Tom Clancy brand name. Originally unveiled as Tom Clancy's XDefiant, Ubisoft's newest free-to-play shooter promises Call of Duty-esque combat in a world where players assume the roles of operatives from different Clancy-based factions. At any given moment, then, a bunch of Echelon members from Splinter Cell could be going head-to-head against a few Cleaners from The Division.

Fans of the interactive Tom Clancy universe weren't too pleased to see Sam Fisher's iconic trifocal goggles sitting atop the head of a character running around a twitch shooter. Thus, backlash ensued, with many calling the value of the Clancy branding into question, especially in the wake of Rainbow Six's turn to aliens with the recently released Extraction. The reveal for battle royale title Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Frontline didn't go over well, either. In fact, the response proved so negative that Ubisoft delayed Ghost Recon: Frontline's closed test indefinitely. At the very least, the latest on XDefiant suggests the French publisher has taken some of the backlash to heart.

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Earlier this week, Ubisoft revealed details about XDefiant's Insider Sessions for "select registrants on PC." Invitations to the testing phase began rolling out yesterday, March 15; those who participate will find themselves matched alongside and against members of the development team. As GamingBolt noted, however, the most interesting aspect of the recent news is that XDefiant's logo and title now lack the Tom Clancy branding. It still seems as though groups from the likes