Pay-to-win mechanics in video games are a hot topic of debate, so it was refreshing to hear Ubisoft promise that its latest free-to-play tactical shooter, XDefiant, will not be pay-to-win. But despite the developer’s assurances, players aren’t convinced, and for good reason.

On May 17, Ubisoft published a blog post about XDefiant's monetization system, but commenters claimed that the post is merely a cleverly worded "meaningless" promise that obscures the reality. For example, while Ubisoft's post states that there are no pay-to-win mechanics, it also states, "All gameplay-impacting content available for purchase can also be unlocked via challenges to ensure fair play within our community."

So you can still buy functional content that gives you a competitive edge over others. Yes, you can grind to get the content, but needless to say, it won't be a short grind to get 700,000 XP for the DedSec faction.

“Pointless statement,” one player wrote about Ubisoft’s blog post in a Reddit thread. “In all the crap p2w mobile games you can technically grind for years, decades to unlock everything.”