There are many different mechanics that XDefiant is trying to deliver, some of which are on the faction/hero side of it and others on the Competitive aspect. Games of the same genre can exist and flourish without trying to kill one another.Īnother reason why XDefiant isn’t a COD Killer, or more accurately, shouldn’t be viewed as one, is because that immediately puts you into a mindset that it’s trying to do just that. Games (and their player bases) can co-exist even if they’re in the same genre and subgenre - which the aforementioned battle royale games have proven throughout the years. It’s not a metric anyone uses to gauge success because if so, then games like Apex Legends and Warzone might as well just shut down since they’ll likely never reach the player base of Fortnite. Not every game out there tries to kill its competition because that would likely mean failure. Apex Legends and Warzone are two examples of that, yet you would never call them “Fortnite” killers just because they’re all battle royales and, to a degree, chase the same audience.

Look at Fortnite, a battle royale that dwarfs many others in its genre, yet plenty can still strive and survive. I think what most need to understand is that the gaming space is massive and has plenty of room for other games to compete. Far from it, as even the game’s own Executive Producer, Mark Rubin wants to move away from this opinion that their game is a Call of Duty killer. Sure, it could be a twitch shooter to rival that of the behemoth franchise, but just because it shares some similarities with Call of Duty doesn’t mean it’s out to kill it. XDefiant just so happens to be that title many are talking about due to some of the abovementioned reasons and other similarities (like gun customization that acts the same as Call of Duty’s Gunsmith, instant respawn, and more). It also is being seen as an alternative because, for those who have been following all the recent Call of Duty drama, with Warzone 1 shutting down, to the NICKMERCS stuff, and Activision seemingly focusing more on battle royale than the traditional 6v6 experience, that made the franchise what it is today, the community is rather shaken up, with some looking for alternatives to play. That’s mostly due to the more arcade style of movement when stacking it with the more weighted and “realistic” movement of modern COD, as well as the focus on arena-based maps. In fact, Alex ( MP1st’s Editor-in-Chief) and I have spoken on several occasions throughout all the past playtests on how XDefiant reminds us of the “classic” Call of Duty. Look, I won’t beat around the bush and try and claim that XDefiant didn’t feel like Call of Duty in some ways based on the beta. While XDefiant definitely shares plenty of similarities to draw that comparison (not to mention its Executive Producer, Mark Rubin, was the previous EP of the Call of Duty franchise), one thing is certain…and that’s it’s not a “Call of Duty killer” - and that’s okay because it was never trying to be. The XDefiant Open Beta has sadly come to an end, and while the team is undoubtedly working hard and looking through all the provided feedback, one thing that has somewhat stuck out for us from those who have played it is the stark comparison being made between it, and the Call of Duty franchise.

Xdefiant battle royale