Fly a fighter in 12v12 Fleet Battles around carriers and destroyers. Defend your fleet, take theirs apart, and push the front line across a persistent galaxy.
Each faction fields a carrier and two or three destroyers armed with heavy main guns and point-defense turrets. Strip enemy turrets, wreck the carrier’s launch bays, or drain its 100-fighter reserve so their pilots must warp in from their base Xenon Rift with double the respawn wait. Destroy every enemy capital ship to win the rift. No match clock.
Choose your side once per Rift Cycle—your faction holds until a capital falls and the galaxy re-forms. Pick an open front on the galactic map and drop into its battle. Victories capture and lock rifts, opening adjacent fronts. Bots fill empty fighter slots and keep battles moving when pilots are away.
Practice a 12v12 Fleet Battle, Team Deathmatch, or a full Offline Rift War against bots without an account or server connection. Track both fleets on the visual fleet-strip HUD and ship rings, while the ship-computer announcer calls out carrier attacks, reactor blasts, and forming gravity wells.
THREE SHIPS / THREE WAYS TO FIGHT
Find your fighter.
Interceptor
Fast and light. Pick your angle, strike, and slip away.
PRIMARY / PULSE SCATTER
Fires a three-bolt close-range spread (6° fan, 40 u range) built for fast hit-and-run passes.
SPECIAL / PHASE DASH
Dash in your movement direction to reposition while taking reduced damage. You cannot fire during the dash.
Striker
Balanced speed and firepower. A good place to start.
PRIMARY / PLASMA CANNON
Rapid, accurate single-bolt plasma fire (45 u range) for steady mid-range dogfight pressure.
SPECIAL / WEAPON OVERCHARGE
Temporarily increase your cannon’s fire rate (1.6×) to press the attack.
Dreadnought
Heavy armor and shields. Trade speed for staying power.
PRIMARY / RAILGUN
High-velocity, long-range heavy rounds (110 u/s, 55 u range) that hit hard from outside lighter fighters’ reach.
SPECIAL / PHOTON TORPEDOES
Launch a three-torpedo salvo that deals 5× damage to capital ships, turrets, and launch bays.
All three ships are available in practice and online. Balance and visuals are still evolving.
YOUR FIRST FLIGHT
Come help shape the Rift.
Xenon Rift is in active development. Contact us for current build availability and playtest instructions.
These links open your email app, not a download. Access is not guaranteed. Mac supports keyboard & mouse or gamepad. iPhone, iPad, and Android support built-in touch flight controls or a compatible controller. Apple TV gameplay requires a compatible controller to fly (the Siri Remote navigates menus, and you can sign in from your phone at xenonrift.com/link; Siri Remote alone is not supported for flight).
1. Try Practice
Choose your default ship in the Hangar, then open Practice to fly a 12v12 Fleet Battle, Team Deathmatch, or Offline Rift War against bots.
2. Sign in
Open Rift War or your Pilot Profile and sign in with Google, Apple, or email (or with your phone on Apple TV). Choose a unique call sign; your profile and career stats follow your account.
3. Drop in
In Rift War, choose your side for the current war cycle, pick an open front on the galactic map, and select Drop In. No server address to enter.
Flight controls
Default keyboard, mouse, twin-stick gamepad, and touch controls
Action
Keyboard & mouse
Gamepad
Touch (phone / tablet)
Thrust / strafe
W / S · A / D (ship-relative)
Left stick (screen-relative)
Left thumb floating stick (screen-relative)
Aim / fire
Mouse / left click
Right stick / right trigger
Right thumb floating stick (fires while pushed)
Ship special
Space or Left Shift
Either bumper
Special button above aim stick
Scoreboard
Hold Tab
Hold View / Select
Hold SCORES
Return to menu
Esc
Start / Menu
Tap MENU, then LEAVE?
Gamepad styles, stick options, touch controls (Auto / On / Off and Left-handed layout), and ship-computer announcer voices (Female AI, Male AI, Tactical Droid) are available in Settings.
Can I play without other players?
Yes. Practice runs offline against bots without signing in—either a single 12v12 battle or a full Offline Rift War across the galaxy. Online, bots fill open fighter slots so you can join even when few people are playing.
Does the online galaxy keep going when I leave?
Yes. The dedicated galaxy saves its war state in the database and runs battles with bots while pilots are away. Your game does not need to stay open. Offline practice is separate from the shared online war.
What if I cannot join?
Use the current playtest build and check the galaxy status shown on the Rift War button in the main menu. If a front closes after its battle or a connection drops, return to the map or menu and join an open front. Follow the first-launch instructions supplied with your build.
Need help or want to report a bug?
Ask for help ↗. Include your device, build version, what happened, and steps to reproduce it. Do not send passwords or sign-in tokens.