Battlefield 6 Has Officially Beaten Call of Duty, But It Doesn’t Really Feel Like It

There’s no denying that Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 hasn’t been the most successful entry in the franchise. While it certainly reviewed better than fellow “year-two” Call of Duty game Modern Warfare 3 (2023), as it was buoyed by strong multiplayer and Zombies offerings, its player counts don’t reflect that quality. Black Ops 7 has done many things that players have asked for over the years, like reviving persistent lobbies and toning down skill-based matchmaking, yet it seems as if many gamers have never even given the title a shot. Perhaps this has to do with general Call of Duty fatigue, the memes about the BO7 campaign scaring off casual fans, or the success of the competition—AKA Battlefield 6.

While its unclear how much of Call of Duty’s fall-off can be blamed on Battlefield 6, there are surely some players who have felt satisfied with making EA’s shooter their FPS of choice this year. After a hugely successful beta, Battlefield 6 became the highest-selling game of 2025, as the lack of an Xbox Game Pass release like what happened with CoD opened the door for a massive performance. Yet while Battlefield 6 had positive buzz in the lead-up to launch and the early days of its post-release life, it’s now enduring a lengthy wave of negativity on social media platforms like Reddit. And, funnily enough, Call of Duty is the opposite. If one were to look at the subreddits of both franchises, they’d think that Black Ops 7 was the hit and BF6 was a letdown—something that could actually have an impact.

Battlefield 6’s Online Atmosphere is Shockingly Toxic

Image via DICE

While it’s undoubtedly true that Reddit is an echo chamber and its users don’t speak for the gigantic casual audience, it is still worth taking the platform into consideration when there are so many negative posts that consistently receive thousands of upvotes. Clearly, not everybody is pleased with Battlefield 6. And to be fair, some of the complaints are valid; netcode issues, battle pass challenges, controversial game mode changes, balancing, and a brutal approach to BF6 seasonal events that was seemingly changed last minute — all of these areas deserve criticism. Yet for every valid complaint, there’s endless whining about the same “issues,” all of which come down to personal preference.

It will take just seconds of scrolling through the Battlefield subreddit to find players complaining about cosmetics, BF6’s movement, map size, and the mere existence of a battle royale mode ad nauseam. This is despite the fact that BF Studios has promised to look into map size and has altered cosmetics the community criticized. BF Studios has been hearing criticism and adjusting accordingly, but since launch, it feels like there’s nothing but negativity going around. Outraged players continue to complain about nitpicks and personal disappointments nonstop, failing to celebrate the good aspects of Battlefield 6, and anyone who attempts to praise the game or push back on so-called issues they don’t personally see as a big deal — like skins — gets ostracized and dubbed a shill by the fan base.

Hate subreddits for video games are nothing new; The Last of Us Part 2 has an entire subreddit dedicated to unsavory gamers who cannot let a 5-year-old story go and continue to bash the people that created it. Similarly, the Marvel’s Spider-Man subreddit became a hub to bash the sequel, turning minor complaints about falling fridges and DIY costumes into major issues that somehow result in an acclaimed game secretly being bad. Still, while this has happened before, it’s no less disappointing to see now. Fans of Battlefield 6 have been forced to create new subreddits just to share clips and discuss the game in a healthy way, as all that can be found on the main subreddit is the hot new criticism of the week. While constructive criticism is healthy, old-school Battlefield fans have been harping on what they see as problems as opposed to mentioning them and moving on, and it’s gotten tiring.

What makes this all so strange is that — like the examples mentioned above — Battlefield 6 is a critically and commercially successful game that does a lot of things well. And beyond that, a large portion of Battlefield fans have had a negative view of CoD for years. Naturally, the Battlefield fan base should be celebrating the downfall of a series that has held its preferred franchise down, as BF6 has managed to do what many once thought impossible. Instead, though, it feels like there’s no way to make the Battlefield fan base happy, as there are rarely nuanced takes to be found about the game online. Just a few years ago, one might have expected Battlefield beating Call of Duty to be a celebratory moment across the worldwide web, but internet culture has become so critical that it feels like there’s no room for joy and positivity anymore.

Call of Duty’s Positive Word-of-Mouth is Refreshing

Image via Activision

Meanwhile, there’s the discussion around Black Ops 7, which highlights the opposite side of the spectrum. While the game has done poorly enough for Activision to put out a statement where it promises not to release back-to-back Black Ops or Modern Warfare games ever again, the reality is that players who have actually given BO7 a chance tend to be positive about it. Whenever a negative article is posted about Black Ops 7, the replies tend to be filled with phrases like “that’s a shame,” “I don’t understand why it’s doing so poorly,” and “I’m loving it, you should give it a chance if you’re on the fence.” This positivity will be refreshing to anyone tired of the endless Battlefield 6 hate, and the positive word-of-mouth might just prove to be a big deal going forward. After all, the holiday season is right around the corner, and BO7 could see a noticeable sales uptick given all the praise from fans.

Make no mistake: Black Ops 7 isn’t a perfect game. Its campaign is indeed deeply flawed and is a narrative far cry from Black Ops 2, but even then, some players have found enjoyment in Endgame. Zombies has proven to be a big hit thanks to some visually bold maps and Cursed mode, but it has its share of frustrating bugs that have impacted main quest runs on maps like Astra Malorum. And multiplayer, while it has a stellar map pool, has had the typical balancing issues where certain weapons are overpowered. Yet despite these clear issues, Call of Duty players have chosen to focus on the positives, letting all the things that Black Ops 7 has done well outweigh its shortcomings.

The reality is that BO7 is a good game overall; it just has issues like any other game. The exact same logic applies to Battlefield 6, as it, too, is a solid game with flaws, meaning the only difference is in how the communities are reacting. Whereas Black Ops 7 fans are calling out issues and then moving on to appreciate the positives or push others to try the game, a sizeable portion of the Battlefield 6 player base refuses to see anything but the bad. That’s a genuine shame, as seeing all the toxicity could push potential Battlefield fans away from the franchise. There’s a fine line between useful critiques and blind hate, and the Battlefield subreddit is certainly leaning toward the latter. Perhaps this is one of the reasons for BF6’s steam player count decrease, as the community just isn’t very fun to interact with if you’re not joining the mob. Ultimately, while Battlefield 6 won big statistically this year, it isn’t winning the optics war, as Call of Duty fans are having no issue rolling with the punches.

Released

November 14, 2025

ESRB

Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Drugs