Judging by the record for concurrent players, it’s clear that Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has officially lost to EA’s upcoming Battlefield 6 when it comes to open beta player counts on Steam. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has faced criticism as its reveals have rolled out.
The backlash against Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 began with reactions to its Gamescom Opening Night trailer. The announcement quickly racked up over 100,000 dislikes, making it one of the most disliked trailers for an unreleased Call of Duty game ever. At the time, many predicted that the negative reaction could signal fans leaving Black Ops 7 for Battlefield 6, and recent evidence suggests that prediction might be accurate.
Open Beta Statistics Hint at the Winner Between Black Ops 7 and Battlefield 6
According to the latest data, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7‘s Open Beta on Steam peaked at around 99,000 concurrent players. By comparison, its main competitor, Battlefield 6, reached over 520,000 concurrent players on the same platform back in August. Many are now calling EA’s upcoming FPS the clear winner, noting that Black Ops 7‘s nearly 420% smaller concurrent player count on Steam during the Open Beta phase points to the likely victor.
Of course, it’s worth noting that these numbers only reflect the two games’ Open Beta performance on Steam. Black Ops 7 has been available on multiple platforms, so its total concurrent player count could be much higher than 99,000. The same applies to Battlefield 6, whose Open Beta was also on both PC and consoles. If it performed similarly on consoles, its actual concurrent player record could be well above the reported 521,000.
It might be too soon to declare the ultimate winner in 2025’s rivalry between these two popular FPS franchises. However, it’s clear that Black Ops 7 has had a slow start with its Open Beta and may need significant changes to win back its fan base.
According to EA, Battlefield 6 is set for a global release on October 10 and has already topped the best-selling charts on Steam and several other platforms. Activision’s Black Ops 7 is currently scheduled for release on November 14, 2025, assuming there are no delays. It remains to be seen how the competition between the two games will unfold once both are out, and whether one will be able to completely dethrone the other.