Battlefield 6 has already broken beta records, hitting over 500,000 concurrent players on Steam in its first few days.
Amid this success, former Blizzard President Mike Ybarra claimed that the game will “boot stomp” Call of Duty this year. Is this claim likely to hold weight, or will Call of Duty retain its position as a pillar of the FPS genre?
Comparisons between Battlefield 6 and Call of Duty show classic titles may fall behind the curve
In his critical post, former Blizzard President Mike Ybarra is firing shots at the game titles formerly under his leadership. In his opinion, the Battlefield 6 launch will be a decimating blow to the Call of Duty franchise.
Over the opening weekend of its beta, Battlefield 6 peaked at 521,079 concurrent players on Steam. This breaks Call of Duty’s Steam peak of 491,670. Call of Duty’s peak was achieved around two years ago, synchronised with the release of Warzone 2.
Such a significant player base is promising, but it is not a guarantee of success. What strengthens the argument for Battlefield 6’s potential triumph over Call of Duty is the feedback from players.
So far, those who have played Battlefield 6 in its pre-release state have been able to offer significant praise for its immersion, gameplay, and success in blocking 330,000 cheating attempts with EA’s new anticheat, Javelin.
Now that the beta has ended, players are eagerly awaiting the next beta testing window, scheduled for August 14th-17th. In fact, Battlefield 6 preorders hit number one on Steam and PlayStation charts in the first 24 hours of the beta going live.
Is Battlefield 6’s success inevitable, or will the Call of Duty legacy live on?
Call of Duty does have some leverage over Battlefield 6. Not only does it have a more diverse range of game modes, but it also has 22 years of history. Activision published the first Call of Duty game in 2003, and as of August 2025, there are 23 games in the franchise.
Black Ops 7 is due to be released later in 2025, which will bring the total to 24. Due to the hype surrounding Battlefield 6, Black Ops 7’s reveal will need to be a smash hit to compete head-to-head.
Criticism of the Call of Duty franchise has also risen in recent years. The franchise is fighting to hold its popularity, including through its esports scene and popularity on esports betting sites.
Microsoft’s game department also hit Call of Duty developers with layoffs earlier this year. Raven Software, which is responsible for the upcoming Black Ops 7 game, were affected.
Alongside this, there is a decreasing window of innovation for Call of Duty games. With soon-to-be 24 titles, some gamers think that the franchise is running out of new directions to take.
Battlefield 6, on the other hand, is a game that has a strong core identity. It aims to be an immersive battlefield FPS experience, with good anticheat software and high-quality gameplay. In other words, it knows what it is and isn’t trying to be something it is not.
With Battlefield 6 and Call of Duty Black Ops 7 testing and launching so close to one another, only time will tell which title will emerge victorious.
Hannah is a writer specialising in the esports, gaming, and technology sectors. Working for outlets such as Dot Esports, Esports Insider, and of course ENUK, she has developed a love for wider esports and Apex Legends, although it may never surpass her drive to passionately beat her friends in every game of Mariokart. You may have seen her at various esports and gaming events, including ESI London, EGX, Discover: Esports and many League of Legends watch parties.
