Battlefield 6 Could Hit Twice as Hard as Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
Battlefield 6 is surging since its October 10 launch, and the October 28 drop of its battle royale, REDSEC, is kicking the hype into overdrive—just as Call of Duty starts to lose its grip.
Quick pulse check on the shooter wars: Battlefield 6 launched October 10 and has been climbing ever since. Its battle royale, REDSEC, dropped October 28 and poured more gas on the fire. Meanwhile, over in Call of Duty land, the lead-up to Black Ops 7 is... not exactly electric. There is interest, sure, but the early signals look soft compared to BF6 at the same point.
The numbers everyone is staring at
Per Alinea Analytics (via GamesIndustry), here is where things stood 18 days before Black Ops 7 hits on November 14:
- Black Ops 7: under 200,000 Steam pre-orders
- Battlefield 6 at the same stage: nearly 1 million Steam pre-orders
- Black Ops 7: sitting at No. 173 on Steam wishlists
- Battlefield 6: peaked at No. 3 on Steam wishlists
On paper, that is a brutal comparison for a franchise that usually steamrolls the conversation. But it is not the full picture.
Why the Steam snapshot can be misleading
Call of Duty spreads its audience across multiple lanes: it has its own launcher, it will be a day-one Game Pass title, and it is available on Steam too. So Steam pre-orders do not capture total interest or where a lot of its casual and console-heavy base actually buys and plays. Analysts fully expect CoD to sell in the millions like it does every year.
That said, the fatigue is real. Annualized releases, a heavy tilt toward cosmetics, and not a lot of fresh ideas have dulled hype for Black Ops 7. The studio says it is dialing back the cosmetic overload this time, which coincidentally aligns with BF6 suddenly sucking up all the oxygen. Read into that how you want.
Why Battlefield 6 has the wind at its back
While CoD fights the perception battle, DICE is piecing together a comeback that actually feels confident. REDSEC adds the big, flashy mode you can build a season around. Battlefield Portal is still the community toybox, and the devs are actively tuning it in ways players have been asking for. EA has been unusually transparent and reactive on feedback, hammering through fixes and balance tweaks at a steady clip. On top of that, a Season 1 roadmap lays out content for the rest of the year, which gives fans something concrete to hang onto. It is the opposite of copy-paste season: CoD feels like reruns; Battlefield feels refreshed.
The real question
Battlefield 6 has the cultural buzz right now. Black Ops 7 will almost certainly move huge numbers anyway because that is what CoD does, but momentum matters. If DICE keeps this up, the scoreboard will look good even if CoD posts its usual sales pile.
So where are you landing: CoD reclaiming the crown on November 14, or is BF6 in this for the long run?