Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s reveal has to hit, as Battlefield 6 hype grows

Darragh Harbinson, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 12/08/2025

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s gameplay reveal will take place on August 19 as part of Gamescom Opening Night Live. The event, hosted and produced by Geoff Keighley. The main show will begin at 19:00 BST on August 19.

The reveal promises gameplay of the anticipated FPS, but it will have to deliver to derail Battlefield 6, which seems to be challenging Call of Duty’s dominance for the first time in a generation.

FPS fans are currently looking forward to the three stages of Battlefield’s beta, starting with the August 7-8 limited test for those who got drop codes from the multiplayer event. The first open beta weekend runs from August 8-10, with the second week coming August 16-17.

With CoD Bo7’s trailer coming so soon after the final Open Beta, CoD devs Treyarch and Raven Software might be hoping to wash away the aftertaste of Battlefield’s multiplayer test.

In esports, it is unclear whether Battlefield 6 has esports ambitions. Certainly, OpTic Texas will be hoping that Black Ops 7 is a success and remains on top, with their roster being huge esports betting sites favourites for next year’s CDL events. OpTic recently won CDL Worlds 2025 and EWC 2025 back-to-back, but are now awaiting the new game for competition to resume.

The organisation will be hoping the game can recapture the gaming world’s interest and pull strong viewership figures to maximise the commercial and competitive potential of its star-studded roster.

Battlefield 6 hype grows

Battlefield 6 reportedly gathered over 500,000 Steam wishlists following its initial reveal trailer, according to video games analytics company Alinea Analytics. After the recent hype surrounding its Multiplayer Reveal event, which included notable content creators like Tarik and TimTheTatMan, that hype has only accelerated.

According to Steam’s data, more than 9,000 people were lurking in BF6’s beta, waiting for the Beta to start in a few days. The Beta, at the moment, is only menus and settings, with no way to even pick up a gun, yet the hype is causing players to open the Beta regardless.

Call of Duty will also be under pressure in terms of its tone and monetisation. BF6’s devs have been garnered with praise for conveying that the game will have relatively grounded skins in comparison to CoD, with Fortnite’s crossovers also typically being a source of satire.

Battlefield Studios User Experience Director, Alan Pimm, added to that sentiment in a recent interview with TechRadar, stating, “It’s remembering that dirt should be dirty. We’re not a pristine, sterile environment anymore. You’ve got the dust, the particles, the mud… You’re not running around in a hero cape.”

The question then occurs of whether Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has any response to increasing fatigue of battlepasses with outlandish skins and items, or whether the franchise will continue on its

Darragh Harbinson, Senior Editor

Darragh Harbinson is an esports writer specialising in Counter-Strike. He has written for Esports News UK, Esports Insider, UKCSGO, Dexerto, and Rush B Media.

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