XDefiant is in a strange place at the moment. It recently saw another brief playtest go live – but that lasted a single day. It was supposed to have been released by the end of the summer, but that period has come and gone and we’re still no closer to getting our hands on the finished product. In an update, executive producer, Mark Rubin, explained that the game needed to be pushed back to October as a tentative launch window – but now that we’re there, there’s still no word on a release date.

However, one popular leaker – who typically focuses on Call of Duty news – has taken to Twitter to share a potential XDefiant release date. He stressed that the release date only applies if the most recent playtest went well – and if Ubisoft resolved the compliance issues that blocked the earlier release of the game in the first place. There’s one big issue now, though – if the XDefiant release date is accurate, it’s going to monumentally clash with Call of Duty.

Perhaps That’s Deliberate

Image Credit: Ubisoft

Despite Mark Rubin stressing that they don’t want XDefiant to be called the ‘Call of Duty killer’, that’s how people are still marketing it. Months ago, the hugely successful beta phases for XDefiant produced remarkable feedback for the game, and by all accounts, the most recent testing periods went even better. It’s shaping up to be a fantastic shooter that’s led by the community, with feedback actively being fed into the development cycle for the game.

On Twitter, popular leaker ‘el_bobberto’ claimed that XDefiant will be released on October 17th. That’s as long as everything has panned out okay in the playtesting windows, which it looks like it has. It’s not known what his sources are, but that’s the name of the game, right?

That’s a troubling date for a few reasons. Firstly, it’s just one day after the completion of the Modern Warfare 3 beta window. Second, it’s the day that the mid-season update arrives for Season 06, which brings with it The Haunting, Call of Duty’s Halloween event for this year. Then, less than a month later, Modern Warfare 3 will be released in full.

Related: Check Out The Leaked XDefiant Factions

Sizeable Competition

That’s a huge challenge for Ubisoft to overcome. It’s no big secret that the October launch window is stifling – there are more games coming out this month than during any other month this year thus far. There’s an unparalleled amount of competition, and it’s going to see XDefiant compete with the leading first-person shooter franchise on the market. It’s a bold move, but perhaps that’s what Ubisoft wants.

There’s every chance that Ubisoft wants to foster that conflict. They want to disrupt the release of Modern Warfare III by getting everyone hooked on XDefiant weeks before it arrives. After all, when players have completed everything that The Haunting offers, they’ll be waiting for Modern Warfare III, and what else will there be to play? How about XDefiant, the balanced, fast-paced, and all-new shooter from Ubisoft?

And it’s free-to-play – which basically guarantees downloads.