One of video games’ greatest rivalries is heating up again with the launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. It follows hot on the heels of Battlefield 6, which has firmly marked its territory as not just one of 2025’s best shooters, but as the best Battlefield game in many, many years. But Call of Duty proves itself as one of the biggest FPS games in the world, year in, year out – has Battlefield got what it takes to dethrone Activision’s behemoth this year?
While there’s everything to play for when it comes to player numbers and financial success, the real question is: What kind of first-person shooter are you looking for? Do you want your multiplayer tight and competitive, or deeply cinematic? Do you want something grounded in reality, or are you seeking undead hordes to shoot in the face? Call of Duty and Battlefield have long been pitted against each other, but this year’s offerings are good evidence that these games actually offer significantly different experiences.
If you’re considering picking Black Ops 7 or Battlefield 6 up to fuel your end-of-year gaming sessions, but are unsure which one is for you, then we’re here to help. Let's take a look at what each game offers across its suite of modes and work out which aligns with your preferences.
The key difference between Call of Duty and Battlefield is their approach to multiplayer. Typically, Call of Duty focuses on tightly designed, smaller-scale maps that cater to fast-paced fights, and Black Ops 7 is no different – at launch it will offer 16 different maps for 6v6 matches. Battlefield, on the other hand, is designed around large-scale warfare using a combination of infantry and vehicles to capture objectives. Battlefield 6 features fewer maps - just nine at launch - but in general they are much, much larger than Call of Duty’s maps. They also feel less like killing arenas and more like authentic places, in part due to the fact you can destroy many of the buildings.
While you can say that the key difference between CoD and BF is small vs big, that’s not strictly true. Black Ops 7 will also launch with two 20v20 “Skirmish” maps for larger-scale battles, and Battlefield 6 features modes like the 8v8 Squad Deathmatch that take place on smaller sections of its big maps. Similarly, it wouldn’t be fair to say that Battlefield is objective-based and Call of Duty isn’t; while TDM is a Call of Duty staple, its multiplayer suite contains a whole host of classic-style objective modes, including Hardpoint and Domination.
All that said, Call of Duty has always excelled at the smaller, more “traditional” FPS experience, and Battlefield is better for those large-scale, “war movie” style multiplayer matches. If you’re looking for a fast-moving, more focused and intense game, Black Ops 7 is your ticket. If you like something more tactically driven, with clearly-defined class roles, longer matches, and the added spectacle of tanks and helicopters, then Battlefield 6 is where you need to be.
Call of Duty and Battlefield have frequently delivered story campaigns that feel very similar, but this year they both have very different focuses. Not only are they set in distinctly different universes – BLOPS is going all trippy sci-fi this year, while BF6 keeps it grounded with a modern warfare approach – but Call of Duty’s campaign has a multiplayer approach this year, while Battlefield is strictly single-player.
Black Ops 7 has full four-player co-op support for its campaign, turning the typically solo endeavor into a social experience. That approach is emphasised by the fact that it has an infinitely replayable “Endgame” mode, unlocked after completing the story. A PvE co-op mode, it will see you and your team complete objectives in the face of escalating odds.
If it wasn’t already clear that the BLOPS 7 campaign is more closely related to the multiplayer side of Call of Duty than ever, a new unified progression system means that you can earn XP during the campaign and endgame in the same way you would multiplayer. While this is a big shift, it seems like the “classic” single-player Call of Duty campaign will still be there for those who want it. The missions can still be completed solo, and they have once again been designed by Raven Software, the developers behind last year’s fantastic Black Ops 6 campaign.
If a more traditional approach to campaign is your preference, then you may want to take a look at Battlefield 6. Its resolutely single-player story very much feels like an old-school COD campaign, with linear missions that mostly focus on firefights and destroying objectives. It follows a modern day conflict between NATO and the private military company Pax Armata, and will have you unspooling a large conspiracy as you battle through locations like Croatia and New York. You can expect the classic staples of sniping missions, beach landings, vehicle chases, and explosive set-piece design.
It’s worth noting that if you love Battlefield’s massive maps, use of vehicles and destruction, and its clearly defined class roles, you won’t find much of that here. Our campaign review was disappointed in how it failed to adapt the multiplayer’s winning formula for a single-player experience.
If you’re looking for a traditional campaign experience, you can find it in both Black Ops 7 and Battlefield 6. If you’d like to play that kind of story in co-op, BLOPS 7 is your best (and only) choice, but it’s important to note that the setting is a near-future sci-fi, which hasn’t always appealed to COD fans. For those interested in more “realistic,” contemporary warfare, then Battlefield 6 will serve you better.
As is tradition for Treyarch’s Call of Duty games, this year’s Black Ops once again includes a Zombies mode. Once a simple bonus PvE game, Call of Duty Zombies has massively grown in scale and scope over the years, and Black Ops 7 features perhaps the series’ most robust offering. Round-Based Zombies is the main one, tasking you and a group of friends to survive zombie hordes round after round, with the danger increasing each time.
Zombies is known for its cryptic design, and often you need to solve obtuse puzzles to progress. A “Directed” version, returning from Black Ops 6, helps guide you through those objectives, while a “Cursed” version remixes the game with ideas from previous Zombie iterations for a more difficult challenge. “Survival” tasks you with staying alive as long as possible on a smaller version of the new Zombies map, while “Dead Ops Arcade 4” sees the return of a top down, twin-stick shooter mode that was last seen in Black Ops Cold War.
You won’t find any undead monsters in Battlefield 6, but you will find Portal – a powerful tool that allows you to create almost any kind of Battlefield experience you can imagine. Best thought of as Battlefield’s answer to Fortnite’s creator islands, the Portal tool allows you to create brand new maps and game modes, a feature that has allowed fans to re-create favourite maps from prior games, as well as entirely new types of multiplayer matches.
While it may seem at first glance that, when it comes to additional modes, that BLOPS 7 is best for those looking to play and Battlefield 6 is better for creators, it’s worth remembering that non-creatives can still play Portal creations made by the community, and that they are easily accessible from Battlefield 6’s main menu. As such, BLOPS 7 is the best pick for those looking for an arcade-style PvE horror game, while Battlefield 6 is more suited to people who enjoy creating or playing user-made experiences.
Technically speaking, neither Black Ops 7 nor Battlefield 6 have battle royale modes. That’s because Call of Duty and Battlefield both have free-to-play battle royale games, which can be downloaded and played without the need to buy BLOPS 7 or BF6. However, these modes are closely linked to their “parent” games, and so are worth considering, too.
Call of Duty: Warzone is one of the biggest battle royale games in the world, and is frequently updated with content that’s linked to whatever the current “main” Call of Duty game is. Currently that’s Black Ops 6, but we expect a plethora of BLOPS 7-themed content to arrive in the coming months, such as skins and limited time modes.
In terms of experience, Warzone’s flagship mode is a classic, large-scale, fight-to-the-last person/squad standing game. More approachable than PUBG and less hero-driven than Apex Legends, it’s nonetheless an exciting and tense take on a now-staple idea. Alternate modes, such as Resurgence (which allows respawns) and Plunder (where squads fight to gain as much cash as possible) makes Warzone a fairly varied suite of free-to-play game types. Importantly, Warzone is part of Call of Duty’s unified progression, so any XP earned contributes to your overall pool collected from every BLOPS 7 mode.
Battlefield REDSEC is the new kid on the block, and plays a similar game to Warzone. It’s also a large-scale battle royale with a shrinking circle, but this time there’s those classic Battlefield elements of vehicle warfare and destructible terrain. Our review found that those ideas perhaps didn’t carve out a whole new niche for REDSEC’s take on battle royale, but was much more enthusiastic about Gauntlet, a brand new knockout-style mode that sees squads race against the clock to complete objectives. REDSEC is also supported by the Portal system, and so is another place where community-driven creations can potentially thrive.
As these are both free-to-play games, there’s nothing to lose by downloading and playing both of them. If you’re already locked into the Call of Duty ecosystem, then Warzone’s unified progression system will no doubt be helpful in boosting your XP bar. And if the destruction and class-based design of Battlefield is more your speed, then REDSEC may appeal more. There’s also the modes to consider – we’d consider Warzone better for classic battle royale, and REDSEC better for its alternative Gauntlet mode.
It’s also worth considering both Warzone and REDSEC as “tasters” for their parent games. While these battle royales offer very different experiences to Black Ops 7 and Battlefield 6, they are built on the same foundations. If you prefer the movement and shooting systems of one over the other, then you’ll likely find that’s a good test for which of the paid-for games your best click with.
Matt Purslow is IGN's Executive Editor of Features.
