Why Call Of Duty Should Be VERY Worried About Battlefield 6 – SVG

Activision

Another year means another wave of first-person shooters, but this year FPS fans are in for some drama. 2025 has been packed with mind-blowing games, and the back half of the year is about to give us a showdown between two of the biggest shooter franchises in video game history.

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“Call of Duty” is the undeniable champion of the FPS genre, with the series being known for its gritty realism and intensely competitive online scene. Though not as popular, the “Battlefield” franchise has carved out its own niche in the FPS space thanks to its multiplayer sandboxes and destructible environments. “Battlefield” has had “Call of Duty” in its crosshairs for a long time, and it looks like there’s a real chance the challenger could come out on top when the franchises face off later this year.

“Call of Duty: Black Ops 7,” a direct sequel to 2024’s “Black Ops 6,” is scheduled for release on November 14, 2025. A month earlier, on October 10, gamers will get their hands on “Battlefield 6” — and we’re starting to wonder if they’ll be willing to put that game down when “Black Ops 7” arrives. There are growing signs that “Call of Duty” should be very worried about “Battlefield 6,” and we’re here to break down exactly what’s happening with the FPS battle of the year.

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The “Battlefield” franchise has been around for a long time, and the series has gone through a few rounds of highs and lows, with the last time players got their hands on a new game being one such low moment for the franchise. 2021’s “Battlefield 2042” made unpopular changes to the class system and maps, and it ended up letting down longtime fans in the process.

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“Battlefield 2042” debuted to mixed reviews with critics, while fans of the series turned on the game in a big way. On Metacritic, players saddled the game with a score of 2.3 out of 10. On Steam, the game has mixed reviews, with dozens of players writing up their complaints about it. The general consensus among gamers is that “Battlefield 2024” is a minefield of hated features like battlepasses with some of the worst gunplay and map designs in the entire series.

But while “Battlefield 2042” was clearly a disaster, that actually puts “Battlefield 6” in a good position. Longtime franchise fans are hungry for a return to form, and based on the game’s early beta, it seems like this time the developers know exactly what their fans want. The beta pulled in more players on Steam than “Battlefield 2042” did at its own launch, which makes it seem like “Battlefield 6” is going to be massive when it’s officially released.

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Activision

“Battlefield 2042” left a bad taste in the mouths of gamers who’ve been playing DICE’s shooter series for years, and ironically enough, the last “Call of Duty” game did something similar for its fans. When it debuted in October 2024, “Black Ops 6” got better reviews from critics and gamers than the last “Battlefield” game. On Metacritic, “Black Ops 6” pulled an 82/100 from critics and a 6.3/10 from players. Those numbers definitely weren’t franchise-highs, but they were respectable enough.

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As fans got settled into the new “Black Ops” experience, however, their feelings about the game started to turn. On Steam, “Black Ops 6” has mixed reviews overall, but in the wake of the “Battlefield 6” beta, fresh reviews on the “Call of Duty” title dropped to mostly negative. Gamers have major complaints about the microtransactions in “Black Op 6,” and many of them are upset that goofy in-game character skins — like the game experience-changing skins in “Call of Duty: Warzones” — break their immersion in an otherwise serious military-style shooter.

In some ways, the tide turning against “Black Ops 6” is worse for “Call of Duty” overall than the poor reception of “2042” was for the “Battlefield” franchise. Fans get a new “Call of Duty” game almost every year, which means they don’t get time to move on from their past disappointments before Activision starts trying to sell them a new game. Just two years after the underwhelming release of “Black Ops 6,” fans may not be ready to drop their hard-earned cash on the game’s sequel.

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Activision

The multiplayer FPS genre is a fiercely competitive space for game developers. They’re some of the most popular games around, but the genre is absolutely dominated by giant names like “Fortnite” and, of course, “Call of Duty.” Gamers who aren’t diehard fans of the most popular titles still play the big names because that’s where the majority of people end up. But while “Call of Duty” has a long history of being the default shooter for many gamers, that’s actually why “Battlefield 6” should have the “Call of Duty” devs worried.

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There’s a legion of daily FPS players who really want to see “Call of Duty” face a real challenger. People who’ve been disappointed with the direction that “Black Ops 6” and other recent games in the franchise have taken are hoping that a strong competitor will force the COD devs to change the series for the better. While discussing the rivalry between the two franchises on Reddit, some fans said that they think “Battlefield 6,” specifically, is the competitor that “Call of Duty” has needed. “My hope is less that BF6 is a ‘COD Killer’ and more that it siphons away enough people that it puts pressure on COD to do better, basically,” wrote one fan. Plenty of people say that they won’t necessarily choose one franchise over the other, but the consensus is that having another good multiplayer FPS game in the space will benefit everyone.

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EA

The moment is ripe for the “Battlefield” series to make a big comeback. The last game left fans wanting, and the numbers on the “Battlefield 6” beta show that people are excited to find out if the series has gotten itself back on track. Of course, having sky-high numbers on the beta is only a positive if the game holds up; luckily for DICE and its fans, it appears that “Battlefield 6” does.

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Early reviews for “Battlefield 6,” based on the game’s limited beta, are optimistic. IGN praised the game’s excellent gunplay and the advances made in its destructible environment mechanics, writing, “The action is sublime, with a cinematic quality to the constantly raining debris that is enhanced by how legitimately effective it is to take strategic advantage of that destruction.”

Average fans have also been heaping praise on the beta. One player on Reddit wrote, “There is a real return to classic Battlefield. The tone is grounded, the focus is team play, and the class system gives roles that actually matter.” The beta obviously isn’t the end product, and even a final game can change quite a bit with regular updates and DLC, but the entire gaming community is optimistic that “Battlefield 6” is the shooter they need to reinvigorate their passion for the genre.

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The sad truth is that great map design and solid gunplay aren’t the only things that an FPS game needs to be successful; to really find its audience, a game needs a decent marketing campaign. “Battlefield 6” is getting the usual array of teaser and gameplay trailers, and judging by the reactions they’ve been getting, anticipation for DICE’s newest shooter is at an all-time high.

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“Battlefield” may be one of the biggest shooter franchises in gaming, but it’s still not nearly as well-known as “Call of Duty.” When Activision released the initial teaser trailer for “Black Ops 7,” it racked up 40 million views in two months. The “Battlefield 6” trailer only generated 10 million views in a month, but eagle-eyed fans have picked up on the fact that “Battlefield” has been outpacing “Call of Duty” in a different metric.

Fans on Reddit noticed that within one hour, the “Battlefield 6” reveal trailer got more likes on YouTube than the “Black Ops 7” trailer had in a full month, and since then, the difference in likes on the two videos has only gotten more severe. By the end of August 2025, more than 500,000 people had liked the “Battlefield” trailer. The “Black Ops” trailer, on the other hand, stalled out at less than 150,000 likes. Those numbers have some convinced that even though “Call of Duty” has a bigger presence in the gaming world, “Battlefield” has more enthusiasm behind it at this moment.

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“Battlefield” and “Call of Duty” are about to go head-to-head for the first time since 2021, and fans are extremely curious to see how this war is going to play out. Gamers know that “Battlefield 6” isn’t going to single-handedly kill the “Call of Duty” franchise, and many of them expect that “Black Ops 7” will likely still be the best-selling shooter of the year. At the same time, gamers realize that if “Battlefield 6” strikes a sizable blow to “Call of Duty,” it could mean big changes for Activision’s long-running series going forward.

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It’s impossible to know which game will come out on top in the end, but there are already signs that “Battlefield 6” is going to do some genuine damage to the sales of “Black Ops 7.” Gamers have noted that though both titles are currently available for pre-order, “Battlefield 6” is the only one ranking on the PlayStation 5 pre-order sales chart. Fans are used to seeing “Call of Duty” games top the chart as soon as they’re available for pre-order, so the fact that “Black Ops 7” isn’t ranking at all is a massive change in the status quo. There’s still plenty of time before the dust settles, but right now “Battlefield 6” has a leg up in the sales race.

Activision

The teaser trailer releases for “Black Ops 7” and “Battlefield 6” gave fans an indication that “Call of Duty” may be losing out on the 2025 hype competition. When the official gameplay trailer for “Black Ops 7” dropped, any suspicions fans had that “Battlefield 6” was winning seemed to be confirmed. While the “Black Ops 7” trailer generated almost 50 million views within its first five days of being up on YouTube, at the same time, it racked up barely more than 50,000 likes.

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While the number of likes on the video seems pretty grim, the comments section is where things get exceptionally brutal. “This actually made me pre-order ‘Battlefield 6,'” wrote one commenter, joining a chorus of people singing the praises of the competition. Another viewer wrote, “My dog was beside me on the couch when I watched this trailer, he is now pre-ordering Battlefield 6 as well.”

The entire comments section is filled with people saying that they’re underwhelmed by the trailer and are feeling more excited for “Battlefield 6” than ever. To a certain extent, the internet might be piling on the “Black Ops 7” trailer as a joke, but that still isn’t a good sign for the game itself. The trailer basically turned into an ad for the game’s biggest competitor, meaning that “Call of Duty” should now be more worried about “Battlefield” than ever before.

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