XDefiant is already proving itself as potential Call of Duty ‘killer’
Ubisoft's XDefiant is already living up to its Call of Duty 'killer' credentials and has overtaken CoD on Twitch. But is this just a spike in popularity due to the fact it's something new?
24th May 2024 10:00
XDefiant is already proving itself as potential Call of Duty ‘killer’
Ubisoft's XDefiant is already living up to its Call of Duty 'killer' credentials and has overtaken CoD on Twitch. But is this just a spike in popularity due to the fact it's something new?
24th May 2024 10:00
Ubisoft's XDefiant was launched out of the memory of Call of Duty's hauntingly brilliant golden age, as former Treyarch lead Mark Rubin joined Ubisoft to create a shooter game in the way he wanted to - free from the shackles of Activision.
But XDefiant's aethereal reputation was always facing an uphill battle after instantly being branded as the "Call of Duty killer", where anything less than usurping the throne of the FPS genre would be considered a failure.
So, it is a good job that XDefiant is already living up to expectations...for now.
XDefiant outperforms Call of Duty significantly on opening week
After less than 48 hours, XDefiant has mounted quite the siege on the FPs genre and has already taken massive strides towards cutting down the CoD monarchy.
The Ubisoft title has already overtaken CoD on Twitch, in terms of concurrent viewership, with XDefiant notching up over 100,000 viewers, while Warzone struggled to net even half of that amount.
The arcade shooter was boosted by streamers such as Seth "Scump" Abner, but XDefiant actually ended up reaching over 200,000 concurrent viewers on May 21, falling to a daily high of 140,000 on May 22.
Has XDefiant got the legs to beat Black Ops 6?
It's to nobody's surprise that Call of Duty simply won't stand for any rivals getting five minutes of fame, and less than 48 hours after its launch, Activision revealed Black Ops 6.
It's not the first time Activision has tried to cloud over XDefiant either, having previously launched double XP weekends when XDefiant's many Beta tests were live.
XDefiant also surpassed Call of Duty in viewership in its Beta tests, which proves that the title has some legs and can keep kicking out at its main competitor.
But we'll have to wait and see whether the live service model can keep players entertained for long enough for XDefiant to mount a real charge at taking down CoD.
For now, though, there's no reason why both games can't live happily ever after, together.
About The Author
Jack Marsh
Jack is an Esports Journalist at GGRecon. Graduating from the University of Chester, with a BA Honours degree in Journalism, Jack is an avid esports enthusiast and specialises in Rocket League, Call of Duty, VALORANT, and trending gaming news.
