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Following Insider Gaming’s exclusive report this weekend, it took all but 12 minutes for Executive Producer Mark Rubin — and another disingenuous tweet from Aches to shoot down the rumors that XDefiant’s delays aren’t related to chasing Call of Duty. Nevertheless, Rubin did confirm that the game has yet again been delayed, but its latest delay was because of “major technical issues” related to the game’s netcode, which is an issue that has been outlined since November 2023.

As previously mentioned, XDefiant has missed dozens of internal milestones and deadlines these past couple of years and although Rubin’s latest comments on XDefiant missing its latest release date due to the netcode are accurate, it’s not a simple case of a one-and-done issue that has plagued the game for years. As Insider Gaming has reported, XDefiant’s shortcomings stem from several executives and directors on the project. They are internally referred to as ‘The Boys Club’ by a large majority of the team.

At first, ‘The Boys Club’ was the name given to a select few individuals who caused constant problems for the game’s development, and the term was collectively agreed upon by some members of the team to feel a sense of comradery. But a couple of years later, that group grew to a dozen or so both male and female individuals, and its term has evolved into something much more bitter in the studio. The group has been the cause of missed deadlines, crunch, a toxic work environment, and multiple people leaving the project, said sources.

While there isn’t an exact date on when the ‘club’ evolved into something more sinister, several sources stated that the change became the most apparent around the time when the ‘Tom Clancy’ brand was dropped (publically announced early 2022). Before the decision, the game was intended to be released in the holiday of 2021 without any significant issues that plague the game today. The change meant more freedom for the project, allowing The Boys Club to make unnecessary changes, which has had a domino effect on the progress of the game. Despite the warnings from the team, it’s currently added over two years to the game’s development. Eventually, things got so bad that XDefiant’s toxic work culture, crunch, and internal problems became so prevalent that knowledge of ‘The Boys Club’ even spread to other studios at Ubisoft.

The issue with ‘The Boys Club’ isn’t that its managers or directors telling developers what to do—after all, that’s their job—but it’s the lack of work ethic, unpleasant behavior, and the egos from these individuals that have created a really unhealthy place to work, said sources. “One member has no design experience or people experience and has been given directorial powers because of personal friendships”, said one source. It means that developers are left with responsibilities beyond their original job descriptions, told to work tedious hours of overtime to complete tasks, and are often shrugged aside when suggestions don’t align with the views of the higher-ups. “There have been many instances where people have cried, had mental breakdowns, or stopped caring about their wellbeing because of the toxic environment fostered by the club”, it was said.

“The Boys Club is a closed group of protected individuals who think they are better than everyone else and do as they please without any repercussions”, said one developer working on the project.