A new “CoD Killer” is introduced once in a while, and even though they have a fire at the start, most of them turn out to be just a flash in the pan. However, there’s one good reason why that happens, and there’s one big lesson to be learned from the downfall of XDefiant; one that the Splitgate 2 director seemingly knows nothing about when talking about his iteration of this year’s CoD Killer.
I have said this many times in the previous posts about Call of Duty, and I’d still repeat it because Activision’s the only company in the FPS genre that has more than 5 studios working on its yearly CoD releases: The only thing that can kill Call of Duty is Call of Duty. No matter how much hate/love it gets, no matter how dazzling a new game is.
Splitgate 2 director, Ian Proulx, spoke too soon at Summer Game Fest 2025 about his game, announcing its launch and the new Battle Royale mode that’s free to play. Great game, good points, lovely. But the one mistake he made, was comparing his creation to Call of Duty. “I’m tired of playing the same Call of Duty every year.” Bold, but can it hold?
The issue with fighting a big franchise like Call of Duty is that you’ll tap out eventually. You hold the line for a few months, and then that’s it. Call of Duty is a game series released every year with new maps, guns, Campaign stories, Co-Op modes, Zombies, and well, Warzone. You can’t just fight that by calling out CoD and then introducing $80 bundles in your game.
Drawing the attention of Call of Duty fans is easy. You establish a new CoD Killer title, and then bring them all in by announcing a free-to-play mode. The other side of this double-edged sword, however, is that fans have high expectations when they switch from CoD. How much content can Splitgate 2 provide to become the CoD Killer it wants to be?
That lens is the killer of the CoD Killers these days. Go ask XDefiant for that. That game was solid, but when hundreds of YouTubers compared it to something bigger like CoD, it went out of breath. Black Ops 6 was literally the nail in its coffin. The game should have its own identity, without having to follow CoD‘s footsteps for whatever reason.
Maybe the reason why I’m really looking forward to the next Battlefield game is just that. Vince Zampella, the director of the next Battlefield, stated months ago that they’re not trying to fight Call of Duty. Battlefield has its unique gameplay and they’re just trying to double down on that. That’s what brings the players in and most importantly, keeps them in the game. “We’re trying to make something different and we’re trying to make something that’s us.” That’s what I’m looking for.
