While there are some criticisms of Battlefield 6’s open beta, currently live for all platforms until August 10th, the player numbers have been simply outstanding. Either because of that hype, the lackluster nature of Call of Duty, or both, former Blizzard president Mike Ybarra believes that this is the year for Battlefield to “boot stomp” Activision’s flagship shooter.
“Battlefield will boot stomp Call of Duty this year,” said Ybarra on Twitter. “But the real win here is Call of Duty won’t be lazy anymore, and we’ll all get better FPS games for it.”
When someone pointed out that Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, one of the most reviled titles in the franchise, outsold Battlefield 1 in 2016, Ybarra responded, “Call of Duty has gone downhill for years since then. It’s a mess. Cheating, heavy UI/install, rainbow colors. People are sick of it. Luckily, Battlefield will force them to change it.”
Rumors claim that Activision is aware of the anticipation for Battlefield 6, but it seemingly doesn’t care and considers Call of Duty as “too big to fail.” EA’s latest entry in the storied yet troubled first-person shooter franchise also has its share of alleged development kerfuffles and unreasonable expectations (100 million players in a set period).
As always, time will tell how things shake out, especially since there isn’t much known about Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. It’s available this year for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, and PC, with a reveal set for Gamescom Opening Night Live. Battlefield 6, meanwhile, launches on October 10th for current-gen consoles and PC.
