Pre-orders for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 could be picking up the pace, as the game's Vault Edition has finally overtaken Battlefield 6's Standard and Phantom Editions on the PlayStation Store. Call of Duty and Battlefield haven't gone head-to-head for four years now, but with the release of Battlefield 6 and Black Ops 7 just five weeks apart, the two shooters are going to need to pull out all the stops if they want to come out on top.
In 2021, EA and DICE received tons of backlash for the controversial launch of Battlefield 2042. The semi-futuristic entry in the series was met with tons of criticisms, largely due to its lack of traditional features, a large number of bugs and glitches, and more. However, the series looks to be back with a bang, as the open beta for Battlefield 6 was massively successful. The playtest managed to peak at well over 521,000 concurrent players on Steam in its first few days, and even broke records for the franchise. According to EA, the beta was the biggest in the series' history.
Battlefield 6 Puts the 'Duty' in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
Battlefield 6 and Black Ops 7 have taken completely opposite approaches to marketing that leaves both titles in fascinating positions.
Black Ops 7 Overtakes Battlefield 6 in PlayStation Pre-Orders
After overtaking Call of Duty's all-time concurrent player count on Steam in its first open beta weekend, it's no surprise that Battlefield 6 has been outpacing Black Ops 7 in pre-orders, at least on the PlayStation Store, anyway. However, it looks like the tables could be turning in Call of Duty's favor, as the Black Ops 7 Vault Edition has now overtaken both Battlefield 6's Standard and Phantom Editions (via CharlieIntel). It seems to have taken the shooter some time to catch up, but it is now above Battlefield 6, Borderlands 4, the Standard Edition of Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, and more. However, it has yet to surpass NBA 2K26, which is dominating the charts with three different editions.
Despite the fact that Battlefield 6 got off to an extremely strong start with its massive open beta weekends, Activision executives have reportedly claimed that they aren't concerned about the next Battlefield game as Call of Duty is "too big to fail." Given that the shooter has been releasing annually for the last two decades and regularly cements itself at the top of the charts, only ever being beaten by powerhouses such as Grand Theft Auto 5 or Madden NFL, it's no surprise that Activision may feel this way.
Although pre-orders for the next Call of Duty game may be picking up, there's still tons of controversy surrounding the shooter. Just recently, the worldwide reveal trailer for Black Ops 7 passed an unfortunate milestone, as it has now accumulated nearly 400,000 dislikes. While there is nothing specific about Black Ops 7 that is turning fans to Battlefield 6, it is likely an accumulation of years of disappointment from the game's community. Unrealistic cosmetic items, bug-ridden launches, lackluster post-launch content, hackers, incessant microtransactions, and more have been just some of the controversies surrounding Call of Duty in recent years, and fans finally seem to be fed up.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 66 /100 Critics Rec: 34%
- Released
- November 14, 2025
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Drugs
- Developer(s)
- Treyarch, Raven Software
- Publisher(s)
- Activision
