A new World War II shooter just dropped a gameplay trailer, and it’s not another D-Day retread or Eastern Front slog against Nazis. The Defiant, developed by Chinese studio Hoothanes (also known as 4Divinity), takes place during the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1940s China, a brutal conflict that killed millions but gets almost zero representation in gaming. The six-minute gameplay trailer released December 25 shows cinematic set pieces, tactical gunplay, and stealth missions that look like Call of Duty: World at War meets Battlefield’s destruction, except set in a theater of war Western developers have completely ignored for decades.
What Is The Defiant
The Defiant is a cinematic, high-intensity single-player FPS where players take on the role of Chinese resistance fighters battling Japanese invaders across fractured frontlines. The game promises battlefield immersion, tactical gunplay, gritty realism, and character-driven storytelling as you fight through huge snowy forests, guarded roads, and dangerous villages behind enemy lines. The tagline “We are the Defiant” positions players as underdogs fighting for survival and liberation rather than the well-equipped military forces typically featured in Western WW2 games.
The gameplay trailer showcases both intense action sequences and stealth-focused missions set primarily at night. You’ll have a companion who accompanies you through most missions, suggesting squad-based mechanics or AI partner systems similar to Brothers in Arms or recent Call of Duty campaigns. The game combines spy warfare, puzzle solving, and action shooting elements, meaning it’s not just a pure run-and-gun shooter but includes infiltration and problem-solving components.
Development is still in early stages, with the team admitting there are “visible flaws” but promising active improvements. The game is being built in what appears to be Unreal Engine based on the visual quality, though the studio hasn’t officially confirmed engine details. There’s currently no release date beyond a vague “coming soon” on the Steam page, and no confirmation on whether console versions are planned alongside the PC release.
The War Western Games Never Tell
The Second Sino-Japanese War lasted from 1937 to 1945 and resulted in an estimated 20 to 25 million Chinese casualties, making it one of the deadliest conflicts in human history. It was essentially World War II’s Asian theater before Pearl Harbor brought the United States into the war, featuring horrific battles, war crimes on a massive scale including the Rape of Nanking, and Chinese resistance efforts that tied down hundreds of thousands of Japanese troops who otherwise could have been deployed elsewhere.
Despite its massive historical significance, this conflict is essentially invisible in Western gaming. Call of Duty touched China briefly in World at War’s final mission but focused overwhelmingly on the Pacific island-hopping campaign from the American perspective. Battlefield has never meaningfully explored this theater. Medal of Honor ignored it completely. The entire WW2 gaming canon treats the Sino-Japanese conflict as a footnote when it was actually a massive multi-year war that shaped the outcome of World War II.
This erasure isn’t accidental. Western game developers make WW2 shooters for Western audiences who want to play as American, British, or sometimes Soviet soldiers fighting recognizable enemies in familiar locations. There’s no commercial incentive to tell stories about Chinese resistance fighters because that’s not what sells copies in the United States and Europe. The Defiant exists because Chinese developers are finally creating games that center their own history rather than waiting for Western studios to care.
Why This Conflict Matters
- 20-25 million Chinese casualties over 8 years of fighting
- Japanese forces committed widespread atrocities including the Rape of Nanking
- Chinese resistance tied down 1 million+ Japanese troops throughout the war
- Conflict shaped modern Chinese identity and politics profoundly
- Almost completely ignored by Western WW2 games despite massive scale
- Rich source of untold stories about partisan resistance and urban warfare
The Black Myth Wukong Effect
The Defiant’s December 2025 trailer release timing isn’t coincidental. Chinese game development has gained massive international credibility following Black Myth: Wukong’s explosive success in August 2024. Game Science’s action RPG sold over 10 million copies in its first week, proving that high-quality Chinese-developed games can compete globally against Western and Japanese AAA titles. That success opened doors for Chinese studios to pitch ambitious projects to international audiences.
Hoothanes is clearly trying to capitalize on this moment. They released The Defiant trailer simultaneously on Bilibili (China’s dominant video platform) and YouTube, creating a dedicated English-language YouTube channel specifically to reach global audiences. The marketing materials emphasize comparisons to Call of Duty and Battlefield, positioning The Defiant as a competitor rather than an alternative. This is a studio that watched Black Myth succeed and decided now is the perfect time to show the world what Chinese developers can do with other genres.
The timing also takes advantage of franchise fatigue in the WW2 shooter space. Call of Duty hasn’t done a proper World War II game since 2021’s Vanguard, which was critically mixed and sold poorly compared to Modern Warfare entries. Battlefield 2042 launched as a disaster and hasn’t recovered. The WW2 shooter market is wide open for a competent challenger that offers fresh perspectives on familiar warfare. The Defiant fills that vacuum with a setting and story Western developers would never touch.
The Weapons and Combat Systems
The Defiant promises a diverse arsenal including rifles, assault rifles, pistols, and machine guns. Classic historical weapons confirmed include the Hanyang Rifle (a Chinese-manufactured version of the German Gewehr 88), the Mauser Military Pistol (C96 “Broomhandle”), and the MP18 Submachine Gun. These are period-accurate weapons that actually saw use in the Chinese theater, showing the developers are committed to historical authenticity rather than just recycling the standard WW2 weapon roster every other game uses.
The gameplay trailer shows fairly realistic weapon handling with visible recoil, manual reloading animations, and what appears to be limited ammunition requiring careful resource management. There’s no regenerating health visible in the footage, suggesting either a medkit system or limited health regeneration similar to older shooters. Combat encounters appear designed around tactical positioning and cover usage rather than run-and-gun arcade gameplay, placing it closer to the original Call of Duty games or Red Orchestra than modern shooter design.
Environmental destruction is visible in several trailer sequences, with wooden structures splintering under gunfire and debris scattering during explosions. This suggests at least some level of destructibility, though whether it’s cosmetic or affects gameplay mechanics remains unclear. The night setting dominates most footage, creating tense atmosphere where visibility is limited and stealth becomes viable rather than every encounter being loud firefights.
Character-Driven Storytelling
The Defiant promises character-driven narrative, which could differentiate it from more mechanical military shooters. The trailer shows what appears to be scripted story sequences with dialogue and character interactions beyond just radio chatter during missions. You play as resistance fighters rather than regular military, suggesting the story will focus on partisan warfare, sabotage operations, and the human cost of occupation rather than grand strategic campaigns.
The companion character visible throughout the trailer suggests relationship dynamics and potentially branching story elements based on your actions. Modern single-player shooters increasingly incorporate narrative choice and consequence systems to add replay value and emotional investment. If The Defiant successfully implements meaningful choices rather than just illusion-of-choice dialogue trees, it could create genuinely memorable moments that resonate beyond the shooting mechanics.
The developers explicitly state the game will feature “different roles” across chapters that “cross different battlefields in China,” implying you’ll play as multiple characters in different locations rather than one protagonist throughout. This anthology structure allows the game to explore various aspects of the conflict: urban warfare in occupied cities, partisan operations in rural areas, defensive battles, offensive pushes, and covert infiltration missions. Each chapter can have distinct tone and gameplay focus while contributing to an overarching narrative about Chinese resistance.
Technical Ambitions and Concerns
The gameplay trailer shows impressive visual fidelity with detailed character models, realistic lighting, and atmospheric environmental effects like snow and fog. The production values appear competitive with AA or lower-tier AAA releases, suggesting significant budget and technical capability from Hoothanes. However, the developers’ admission that the game shows “visible flaws” and is “still in early stages of development” raises questions about how representative this trailer footage is of actual gameplay.
Early trailers often show vertical slices, carefully crafted demo sections that look much better than the final product. The fact that Hoothanes is transparent about the game being unfinished is commendable, but it also means we shouldn’t assume everything shown will make it into release. Animations could be placeholder, AI behavior might be scripted specifically for the trailer, and performance optimization could drastically change how the game looks and runs when it actually ships.
The lack of concrete release information is also concerning. No release date, no window beyond vague “coming soon” messaging, no confirmed platforms beyond PC, and no pricing information all suggest the game is farther from release than the polished trailer implies. It could be late 2026, could be 2027, could be never if funding or development problems emerge. Chinese game development has produced hits like Black Myth: Wukong but also countless projects that never escape development hell or launch as broken messes.
Why This Matters Beyond Just Another Shooter
The Defiant represents something bigger than one game. It’s part of a broader shift where non-Western developers are claiming space to tell their own stories in genres traditionally dominated by American and European studios. For decades, World War II in gaming meant Normandy beaches, Berlin streets, and Pacific islands from exclusively Allied perspectives. The Defiant says “our history matters too, and we’re going to tell it ourselves rather than waiting for you to care.”
This mirrors broader trends in global game development. Korean studios make their own historical games instead of relying on Western interpretations. Japanese developers explore their culture through domestic lenses rather than exoticized foreign gazes. Chinese studios are finally gaining technical and financial capability to create AAA-quality experiences centered on Chinese narratives. The Defiant is part of that wave, using a familiar genre to introduce global audiences to stories they’ve never seen in games.
Whether The Defiant succeeds or fails commercially, it’s already succeeded in one crucial way: it exists. A AAA-quality World War II FPS about Chinese resistance fighters is being made, marketed internationally, and treated as a legitimate competitor to Call of Duty and Battlefield rather than a curiosity. That alone represents progress toward more diverse storytelling in gaming, expanding what kinds of stories get told and who gets to tell them.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does The Defiant release?
The Defiant currently has no confirmed release date beyond “coming soon” on its Steam page. The game is still in early development stages according to developer Hoothanes (4Divinity). Based on the level of polish shown in the December 2025 gameplay trailer, a late 2026 or 2027 release window seems plausible, though nothing has been officially announced.
What platforms will The Defiant release on?
The Defiant is confirmed for PC via Steam. Console versions for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S have not been officially announced, though the game’s scope and budget suggest multiplatform release is likely if the PC version succeeds. No information exists about potential PlayStation 4 or Xbox One versions.
What war is The Defiant about?
The Defiant is set during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) in China, a conflict that resulted in 20-25 million Chinese casualties. Players take on the role of Chinese resistance fighters battling Japanese invaders across various battlefields. This historical setting is almost completely unexplored in Western gaming despite its massive scale and significance.
Is The Defiant single-player or multiplayer?
The Defiant is confirmed as a single-player cinematic FPS campaign with character-driven storytelling. All marketing materials and gameplay footage show solo play with an AI companion. There’s no indication of multiplayer modes, co-op, or live service elements. The focus appears entirely on delivering a narrative campaign experience.
Who is making The Defiant?
The Defiant is being developed by Hoothanes, a Chinese game studio also known as 4Divinity. The studio appears to be relatively new with The Defiant as their first major announced project. Development is still in early stages with the team acknowledging visible flaws in current footage while promising ongoing improvements.
Is The Defiant related to XDefiant?
No, The Defiant has no connection to Ubisoft’s XDefiant, which was a free-to-play multiplayer shooter that shut down in 2025. The similar names are purely coincidental. The Defiant is a single-player World War II campaign game from a Chinese indie studio, while XDefiant was a live service arena shooter from a major Western publisher.
Why hasn’t Call of Duty covered the Sino-Japanese War?
Call of Duty and other Western WW2 shooters focus on stories that resonate with Western audiences, primarily American and European perspectives fighting recognizable enemies. The Sino-Japanese conflict doesn’t fit that mold and has minimal commercial appeal in the United States and Europe, so developers historically haven’t invested in telling those stories despite their historical significance.
Will It Actually Deliver
The million-dollar question: can The Defiant live up to the impressive trailer and ambitious promises? History suggests caution. Indie and AA studios frequently show vertical slice demos that look spectacular but ship games that don’t match that quality. Chinese game development has produced incredible hits like Black Myth: Wukong but also countless disappointments. Hoothanes is an unknown quantity with no track record to evaluate.
The developers’ transparency about early development and visible flaws is encouraging. Studios that openly admit limitations tend to be more grounded than those promising the moon. The realistic scope focusing on single-player campaign rather than sprawling multiplayer ecosystems or live service components also suggests they understand their limitations. A focused 8-12 hour campaign is achievable. A Call of Duty killer with years of content support is not.
The biggest challenge will be competing for attention in a crowded market. Even if The Defiant is mechanically solid with an interesting story, it’s an unknown property from an unknown studio in a saturated genre. Marketing budgets matter enormously in gaming, and Hoothanes likely can’t afford the massive campaigns Activision or EA throw at their shooters. Word-of-mouth and media coverage will be crucial, and that only happens if the game is genuinely excellent rather than just competent.
Ultimately, The Defiant deserves attention for what it represents even if the final product disappoints. A Chinese studio making a AAA-style World War II shooter about their own history is noteworthy regardless of quality. If it succeeds, it opens doors for more diverse historical perspectives in gaming. If it fails, it’s still a valiant attempt to tell stories Western developers won’t touch. Either way, the gaming landscape is richer for its existence. Now we just have to wait and see if Hoothanes can actually deliver on the promise.