XDefiant Interview Indicates No Skill-Based Matchmaking & Promises No P2W, But SHOULD There Be Skill Involved?

I'm really hoping something got lost in translation here. XDefiant Executive Producer Mark Rubin did an interview with Gamespark that went live today, in which he states there will be no skill-based matchmaking in XDefiant. It's stomp or be stomped by the sounds of it.

"If it were a skill-based game," Rubin told Gamespark (via Google Translate), "you would have to fight a tougher opponent every time, but this game is different and more casual. The enemy team gathered by matchmaking, this time there may be more people stronger than you, but in the next match, it may be the opposite. This means that every match is a fresh and varied experience. Of course, after each match, there is a voting time, and players can choose whether or not to fight again with the enemies and allies they fought just before."

The voting period is all well and good, but who's gonna vote for a rematch when they were just stomped by an opposing team? They are far more likely to either try their luck again in the queue or eventually just close the game. Not to mention the toxicity this can breed among those players.

Meanwhile, the team doing the stomping I'm sure will be having the time of their lives. To me, and this is just my opinion, the lack of skill-based matchmaking in the shooter is just lazy development and could be a huge detriment to the game.

Meanwhile, Rubin goes on to say that they are not opposed to crossovers from other Ubisoft games and even more futuristic weapons coming into the game at a later time. Rubin, of course, promises no pay-to-win in the free-to-play XDefiant cash shop.

Rubin makes a big deal about the casualness of the game, but it sounds more like XDefiant will lack a true identity and will be missing features expected in a shooter of this type.

Again, here's hoping something got lost in translation here. We can't of course make a final judgment on anything until we get our hands on the game. XDefiant was already kind of coming across as "just another shooter", but this interview has really solidified that for me for now. I'll be happy to be proven wrong. Ubisoft could sure use a win.