XDefiant causes Activision to announce free access weekend

With the looming threat of XDefiant on the horizon, Call of Duty appears to be running scared and is pulling out all of the stops to try and keep its player base active.

The second wave of Beta testing has arrived for the 'CoD killer' XDefiant, as Ubisoft looks to build on top of its hugely successful closed beta test that had players loving the competitive designs.

But with the Open Beta, Call of Duty has now replied, as it has launched a double XP and free access weekend for Modern Warfare 2. All's fair in love and 'warfare.'

Modern Warfare 2 free access weekend announced for June

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Although it's taken four seasons to get Modern Warfare 2 into a stable and finished position, the game currently plays as well as any entry in the series.

And now it's inviting everyone in to enjoy some thrilling and nostalgic Call of Duty, as Activision has revealed a free access weekend from June 22-26. It's for anyone who hasn’t bought the game, while you'll also be gifted double XP buffs on weapons and level progression.

This will be a great opportunity for free-to-play Warzone players to get to grips with the Tempus Razorback and quickly grind through the weapon tiers better to equip themselves for their next trip to Vondel.

Shipment 24/7 will be one of the playlists activated for the free weekend, which is appealing to all casual and nostalgia-chasing players.

Call of Duty labelled as 'scared' of XDefiant amid free access weekend

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Interestingly, this comes as a heat-of-the-moment announcement following XDefiant's Open Beta, which fans have claimed is more than a coincidence.

"Right after the XDefiant beta…coincidence? I think not. You can tell how scared they are," one fan said on Twitter. "This is clearly a way to get people from playing XDefiant," added another.

XDefant Lead Designer (and ex-Treyarch executive) Mark Rubin also weighed in on the comments, saying, "XDefiant is a love letter to the arcade arena shooter! Is it a CoD killer? Pfft…I have no idea. We're just trying to make a game that people can love for a long time."

Activision will hope that this will plug the leak in its player count over the weekend and the future, although it does seem that XDefiant is proving more serious of competition than those behind the scenes of the CoDverse first imagined.