XDefiant PS5 PlayStation 5 1

Ex-Tom Clancy free-to-play shooter XDefiant is notable for having an emoji as part of its title, but it’ll no longer be tethered to the name of the late espionage author. A glance at the game’s official website merely refers to the release as XDefiant now, with no mention of Tom Clancy anywhere. (We even tried CTRL + F to be extra certain.)

According to PlayStation Lifestyle, French publisher Ubisoft hasn’t been using the Tom Clancy prefix for quite some time, although if you look back on older key art for the release it’s clearly present. There was a recurring sentiment at the time that the author would be “rolling in his grave” by having his name associated with the project, so it’s no surprise to see it stripped.

There’s still no word on a release date, by the way: closed beta tests are ongoing, with the latest round scheduled to get underway this week on PC. If you’re interested, you can sign up on the title’s official website. Ubisoft hasn’t had the best luck when it comes to free-to-play projects, with the plug being pulled on Hyper Scape earlier this year. In truth, we can’t say we have high hopes of this one performing better.

[source ubisoft.com, via playstationlifestyle.net]