The first-person shooter space has heated up a lot today, with Ubisoft’s much-awaited free-to-play XDefiant finally launching after numerous delays, albeit in a pre-season phase. Offering fast-paced gameplay, the shooter features a unique blend of factions inspired by Ubisoft’s iconic franchises.
However, XDefiant‘s time in the spotlight may just have been cut down, as many fans believe its launch was somewhat overshadowed by another major announcement from the biggest name in the shooter genre.
Call of Duty Black Ops 6 Is Finally Real, But With Odd Timing
Call of Duty maker Activision has officially unveiled the next entry in the blockbuster first-person shooter series: Black Ops 6. The reveal culminated a week of cryptic teasers, including a website dubbed thetruthlies.com and a shadowy trailer hinting at a Black Ops connection.
Further details remain sparse, with no gameplay or story specifics revealed yet, but fans won’t have to wait long for more details. Activision has confirmed that the previously (and poorly) obfuscated Direct presentation following the Xbox Games Showcase on June 9 will indeed be centered around Black Ops 6.
The confluence between XDefiant‘s launch and the Call of Duty announcement has incited an interesting online debate, with some Ubisoft fans taking to social media to express suspicion about the timing of the Black Ops 6 reveal.
XDefiant Fans Think Activision May Have Felt Threatened
They suggest that Activision was strategically releasing information about Black Ops 6 to deliberately divert attention away from XDefiant‘s launch, because the Ubisoft shooter was “taking all the CoD players.” These claims were met with significant pushback from the wider gaming community.
XDefiant is what AEW is to WWE
— Arthur “Fiend2Society” (@Fiend2Society) May 22, 2024
Or, hear me out, it's actually just because this is usually the time teasers for the next COD come out.
— My Namma CHEF (@RileyTheWolfYt) May 22, 2024
XDefiant is COD from Temu lol
— Right (@UnknownLogic4) May 22, 2024
Lmao it will never take all the cod players💀 cod will always have a die hard fan base that will always buy their games
— Bobby (@bobby_n_b4) May 22, 2024
this is the usual time for cod teasers because cod comes out in like 3-4 months. and as much as i enjoyed xdefiant, it’s not good enough to take any games players 😭
— Dylan (@Wopa21) May 22, 2024
While the notion of Activision feeling mildly threatened by XDefiant and revealing Black Ops 6 to eclipse its hype is funny, it’s ultimately just a coincidence. XDefiant has been in the public eye for a while, undergoing closed beta testing and slowly accruing a dedicated fanbase. The Ubisoft shooter’s release date was also announced at the beginning of May.
Meanwhile, Activision’s teasers for Black Ops 6 have likely been following a predetermined schedule, as is the case with marketing campaigns, culminating in today’s reveal. It’s improbable that this schedule was drastically altered to specifically clash with XDefiant‘s launch, that too in such a short timeframe.
It’s also important to note that the two games occupy distinct niches within the shooter genre. XDefiant‘s free-to-play model and focus on class-based combat differentiate it from the traditional premium experience offered by Call of Duty, so they’re unlikely to cannibalize each other’s audience.
Nevertheless, the timing of these announcements seems to be a simple case of parallel development cycles converging. Both XDefiant and Black Ops 6 have the potential to be major players in the first-person shooter scene this year, and fans should be happy to have them, rather than devolve into petty arguments.
