Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 vs. Battlefield 6 – Which One Is Best for You?

One of video games’ top rivalries is heating up again with the motorboat of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. It follows blistery connected the heels of Battlefield 6, which has firmly marked its territory arsenic not conscionable 1 of 2025’s champion shooters, but arsenic the champion Battlefield crippled successful many, galore years. But Call of Duty proves itself arsenic 1 of the biggest FPS games successful the world, twelvemonth in, twelvemonth retired – has Battlefield got what it takes to dethrone Activision’s behemoth this year?

While there’s everything to play for erstwhile it comes to subordinate numbers and fiscal success, the existent question is: What benignant of first-person shooter are you looking for? Do you privation your multiplayer choky and competitive, oregon profoundly cinematic? Do you privation thing grounded successful reality, oregon are you seeking undead hordes to sprout successful the face? Call of Duty and Battlefield person agelong been pitted against each other, but this year’s offerings are bully grounds that these games really connection importantly antithetic experiences.

If you’re considering picking Black Ops 7 oregon Battlefield 6 up to substance your end-of-year gaming sessions, but are unsure which 1 is for you, past we’re present to help. Let's instrumentality a look astatine what each crippled offers crossed its suite of modes and enactment retired which aligns with your preferences.

Multiplayer

The cardinal quality betwixt Call of Duty and Battlefield is their attack to multiplayer. Typically, Call of Duty focuses connected tightly designed, smaller-scale maps that cater to fast-paced fights, and Black Ops 7 is nary antithetic – astatine motorboat it volition connection 16 antithetic maps for 6v6 matches. Battlefield, connected the different hand, is designed astir large-scale warfare utilizing a operation of infantry and vehicles to seizure objectives. Battlefield 6 features less maps - conscionable 9 astatine motorboat - but successful wide they are much, overmuch larger than Call of Duty’s maps. They besides consciousness little similar sidesplitting arenas and much similar authentic places, successful portion owed to the information you tin destruct galore of the buildings.

While you can say that the cardinal quality betwixt CoD and BF is tiny vs big, that’s not strictly true. Black Ops 7 volition besides motorboat with 2 20v20 “Skirmish” maps for larger-scale battles, and Battlefield 6 features modes similar the 8v8 Squad Deathmatch that instrumentality spot connected smaller sections of its large maps. Similarly, it wouldn’t beryllium just to accidental that Battlefield is objective-based and Call of Duty isn’t; portion TDM is simply a Call of Duty staple, its multiplayer suite contains a full big of classic-style nonsubjective modes, including Hardpoint and Domination.

All that said, Call of Duty has ever excelled astatine the smaller, much “traditional” FPS experience, and Battlefield is amended for those large-scale, “war movie” benignant multiplayer matches. If you’re looking for a fast-moving, much focused and aggravated game, Black Ops 7 is your ticket. If you similar thing much tactically driven, with clearly-defined people roles, longer matches, and the added spectacle of tanks and helicopters, past Battlefield 6 is wherever you request to be.

Campaign

Call of Duty and Battlefield person often delivered communicative campaigns that consciousness precise similar, but this twelvemonth they some person precise antithetic focuses. Not lone are they acceptable successful distinctly antithetic universes – BLOPS is going each trippy sci-fi this year, portion BF6 keeps it grounded with a modern warfare attack – but Call of Duty’s run has a multiplayer attack this year, portion Battlefield is strictly single-player.

Black Ops 7 has afloat four-player co-op enactment for its campaign, turning the typically solo endeavor into a societal experience. That attack is emphasised by the information that it has an infinitely replayable “Endgame” mode, unlocked aft completing the story. A PvE co-op mode, it volition spot you and your squad implicit objectives successful the look of escalating odds.

If it wasn’t already wide that the BLOPS 7 run is much intimately related to the multiplayer broadside of Call of Duty than ever, a caller unified progression strategy means that you tin gain XP during the run and endgame successful the aforesaid mode you would multiplayer. While this is simply a large shift, it seems similar the “classic” single-player Call of Duty run volition inactive beryllium determination for those who privation it. The missions tin inactive beryllium completed solo, and they person erstwhile again been designed by Raven Software, the developers down past year’s fantastic Black Ops 6 campaign.

If a much accepted attack to run is your preference, past you whitethorn privation to instrumentality a look astatine Battlefield 6. Its resolutely single-player communicative precise overmuch feels similar an old-school COD campaign, with linear missions that mostly absorption connected firefights and destroying objectives. It follows a modern time struggle betwixt NATO and the backstage subject institution Pax Armata, and volition person you unspooling a ample conspiracy arsenic you conflict done locations similar Croatia and New York. You tin expect the classical staples of sniping missions, formation landings, conveyance chases, and explosive set-piece design.

It’s worthy noting that if you emotion Battlefield’s monolithic maps, usage of vehicles and destruction, and its intelligibly defined people roles, you won’t find overmuch of that here. Our run reappraisal was disappointed successful however it failed to accommodate the multiplayer’s winning look for a single-player experience.

If you’re looking for a accepted run experience, you tin find it successful some Black Ops 7 and Battlefield 6. If you’d similar to play that benignant of communicative successful co-op, BLOPS 7 is your champion (and only) choice, but it’s important to enactment that the mounting is simply a near-future sci-fi, which hasn’t ever appealed to COD fans. For those funny successful much “realistic,” modern warfare, past Battlefield 6 volition service you better.

Additional Modes

As is contented for Treyarch’s Call of Duty games, this year’s Black Ops erstwhile again includes a Zombies mode. Once a elemental bonus PvE game, Call of Duty Zombies has massively grown successful standard and scope implicit the years, and Black Ops 7 features possibly the series’ astir robust offering. Round-Based Zombies is the main one, tasking you and a radical of friends to past zombie hordes circular aft round, with the information expanding each time.

Zombies is known for its cryptic design, and often you request to lick obtuse puzzles to progress. A “Directed” version, returning from Black Ops 6, helps usher you done those objectives, portion a “Cursed” mentation remixes the crippled with ideas from erstwhile Zombie iterations for a much hard challenge. “Survival” tasks you with staying live arsenic agelong arsenic imaginable connected a smaller mentation of the caller Zombies map, portion “Dead Ops Arcade 4” sees the instrumentality of a apical down, twin-stick shooter mode that was past seen successful Black Ops Cold War.

You won’t find immoderate undead monsters successful Battlefield 6, but you volition find Portal – a almighty instrumentality that allows you to make astir immoderate benignant of Battlefield acquisition you tin imagine. Best thought of arsenic Battlefield’s reply to Fortnite’s creator islands, the Portal instrumentality allows you to make marque caller maps and crippled modes, a diagnostic that has allowed fans to re-create favourite maps from anterior games, arsenic good arsenic wholly caller types of multiplayer matches.

While it whitethorn look astatine archetypal glimpse that, erstwhile it comes to further modes, that BLOPS 7 is champion for those looking to play and Battlefield 6 is amended for creators, it’s worthy remembering that non-creatives tin inactive play Portal creations made by the community, and that they are easy accessible from Battlefield 6’s main menu. As such, BLOPS 7 is the champion prime for those looking for an arcade-style PvE fearfulness game, portion Battlefield 6 is much suited to radical who bask creating oregon playing user-made experiences.

Battle Royale

Technically speaking, neither Black Ops 7 nor Battlefield 6 person conflict royale modes. That’s due to the fact that Call of Duty and Battlefield some person free-to-play conflict royale games, which tin beryllium downloaded and played without the request to bargain BLOPS 7 oregon BF6. However, these modes are intimately linked to their “parent” games, and truthful are worthy considering, too.

Call of Duty: Warzone is 1 of the biggest conflict royale games successful the world, and is often updated with contented that’s linked to immoderate the existent “main” Call of Duty crippled is. Currently that’s Black Ops 6, but we expect a plethora of BLOPS 7-themed contented to get successful the coming months, specified arsenic skins and constricted clip modes.

In presumption of experience, Warzone’s flagship mode is simply a classic, large-scale, fight-to-the-last person/squad lasting game. More approachable than PUBG and little hero-driven than Apex Legends, it’s nevertheless an breathtaking and tense instrumentality connected a now-staple idea. Alternate modes, specified arsenic Resurgence (which allows respawns) and Plunder (where squads combat to summation arsenic overmuch currency arsenic possible) makes Warzone a reasonably varied suite of free-to-play crippled types. Importantly, Warzone is portion of Call of Duty’s unified progression, truthful immoderate XP earned contributes to your wide excavation collected from each BLOPS 7 mode.

Battlefield REDSEC is the caller kid connected the block, and plays a akin crippled to Warzone. It’s besides a large-scale conflict royale with a shrinking circle, but this clip there’s those classical Battlefield elements of conveyance warfare and destructible terrain. Our reappraisal recovered that those ideas possibly didn’t carve retired a full caller niche for REDSEC’s instrumentality connected conflict royale, but was overmuch much enthusiastic astir Gauntlet, a marque caller knockout-style mode that sees squads contention against the timepiece to implicit objectives. REDSEC is besides supported by the Portal system, and truthful is different spot wherever community-driven creations tin perchance thrive.

As these are some free-to-play games, there’s thing to suffer by downloading and playing some of them. If you’re already locked into the Call of Duty ecosystem, past Warzone’s unified progression strategy volition nary uncertainty beryllium adjuvant successful boosting your XP bar. And if the demolition and class-based plan of Battlefield is much your speed, past REDSEC whitethorn entreaty more. There’s besides the modes to see – we’d see Warzone amended for classical conflict royale, and REDSEC amended for its alternate Gauntlet mode.

It’s besides worthy considering some Warzone and REDSEC arsenic “tasters” for their genitor games. While these conflict royales connection precise antithetic experiences to Black Ops 7 and Battlefield 6, they are built connected the aforesaid foundations. If you similar the question and shooting systems of 1 implicit the other, past you’ll apt find that’s a bully trial for which of the paid-for games your champion click with.

Matt Purslow is IGN's Executive Editor of Features.