This study approaches coopetition as a strategic change and aims to bridge the gaps in micro level cognition and strategy by exploring how a coopetitive frame is constructed, as well as how individual level differences in this creation can be explained. The empirical case study findings contribute to existing coopetitive research by showing that individuals differ in their ability to create future accounts of engagement in strategic activities, as well as in modifying established frameworks of competition to fit an emerging coopetitive frame. Based on the case study findings, a model of sensemaking is presented, which indicates the influence of attitudes and expectations over time on the development of a coopetitive frame. Managers that were unable to update their expectations from the past accordingly struggled in their sensemaking, whereas the interpretative process was aided by optimism and high expectations of the future. A key contribution of the empirical study lies in the focus on sensemaking differences that sheds light on the complexities inherent in coopetitive strategizing. •A coopetitive frame is constructed through matching an established competitive frame with an emerging coopetitive frame.•Individuals construct a coopetitive frame in various degrees by according different weights to the past, present, and future.•The affective dimension of sensemaking plays a crucial role in matching competitive and coopetitive frames.•Optimism or skepticism towards coopetition either reinforces or impedes sensemaking.•In creating future strategizing accounts, individuals draw on established competitive practices in habitual or novel ways.