Ex Blizzard boss says Battlefield 6 success will force CoD to stop being "lazy"

Battlefield versus Call of Duty. The eternal war. Whichever series you prefer, both have had a rollercoaster of releases over the past decade. For every Battlefield 2042, there is an Infinite Warfare. For every hyped new release, the opposition mirrors it. With the excitement for Battlefield 6 reaching a crescendo as more than a quarter of a million players flooded the open beta this week, everybody has their takes on the state of FPS games in 2025. Not least is former Blizzard president Mike Ybarra, who believes that Battlefield 6's apparent success will force Call of Duty to pull its combat socks up and start making great games again.

"Battlefield will boot stomp CoD this year," Ybarra writes on Twitter (X). This seems to be the prevailing thought among players and online personalities alike, despite the fact that Battlefield 6 isn't even close to releasing yet. Nor do we have a Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 release date. Call me old school, but I'll judge which of the pair is better when I've actually had a chance to play both of them.

Whichever comes out on top, it's likely that the two behemoths will be duking it out for the title of the best FPS game of 2025 by the time December rolls around. However, even if he believes that CoD will end the year peering up at the sole of Battlefield's boot, Ybarra thinks that this is for the best.

"The real win here," he continues, "is CoD won't be lazy anymore, and we'll all get better FPS games for it." Now that I can agree with. Competition - and, crucially, good competition - can only improve rival games across the board.

At a time when video games are more expensive than ever, it's absolutely possible that players will have to choose between Battlefield 6 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, where previously they may have bought both. Whichever loses out on this particular sales war will have to dust itself off, find a win in the gulag that is game development, and jump back into the fight with a superior videogame next time around.

If you want a sense of how we feel about EA's war game so far, check out our Battlefield 6 preview for a detailed breakdown of proceedings. And if you're lucky enough to already be knee-deep in the open beta, make sure you know your Battlefield 6 classes, especially seeing as they've been significantly reworked this time around.

As we get closer to the Battlefield 6 release date, make sure your PC is up to spec by checking out our guide for the Battlefield 6 system requirements to ensure a smooth experience.

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