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Battlefield 6 vs. Call of Duty 2021: How The Competition is Already Heating Up

3liteDragon

Member
Battlefield 6 and Call of Duty 2021 are coming later this year, and the competition between the two massive shooters is only just beginning.
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Battlefield 6 and Call of Duty 2021 will seem the two FPS juggernauts battling it out for the first time since 2018. Intriguingly, while both projects are set to debut at the end of the year, neither has been revealed by EA or Activision. As such, fans know truly little about the projects. For Battlefield, only a holiday release window and larger player count have been mentioned by EA. Information is even more scarce for the next Call of Duty, with Activision only confirming that Sledgehammer Games would develop the title last week.

However, despite Battlefield 6 and Call of Duty 2021 info being so limited, the competition between the pair is already starting to heat up. With a Call of Duty game finally confirmed for 2021, and Battlefield 6’s reveal being imminent, things are about to pick up for this year’s competition. With the lead-up to release for both games only going to see comparisons getting more intense, it will be interesting to see which franchise takes the lead at the start of the new console generation.


Call of Duty 2021's Official Announcement

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Over the past several weeks, Call of Duty fans have had good reason to doubt whether the game would release at all. Several sources reported that the game was struggling behind these scenes, with leakers like Tom Henderson even claiming that there is already a recovery road map in place. Some insiders have even been suggesting that Call of Duty 2021 would be canceled — with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Multiplayer Remastered taking its place. While it remains to be seen if there is some truth to the game’s issues, Activision has dispelled any doubts regarding a new Call of Duty releasing this year.

While details are limited, Activision has confirmed that a brand-new Call of Duty game is going to release in 2021. Further, developer Sledgehammer Games will helm the title, proving several leaks from earlier in the year correct. While no date was specified, the Call of Duty series has always seen its games launching between October and November. Pairing this information with Battlefield 6’s holiday release ensures that the two games will likely be launching right around the same time, with the two locking horns as they battle for sales supremacy to close out the year.

Further, Call of Duty 2021 has been confirmed to feature integration with Call of Duty: Warzone. While the previous integration did not go smoothly, the overall goal of adding fresh content to the game was accomplished. With this announcement, Activision is confirming that Call of Duty: Warzone will continue to be a major focus, putting further pressure on DICE. Battlefield 6’s potential battle royale mode has been discussed heavily, though it remains unconfirmed at this point in time. However, this extended support for Call of Duty: Warzone essentially serves as a challenge to DICE and EA. If Battlefield 6 has no battle royale, it could struggle to win over Call of Duty: Warzone fans. If it does include the popular mode, though, it automatically has an uphill battle due to Call of Duty: Warzone’s popularity.


Battlefield 6's Incoming Reveal

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While Call of Duty may already be leveraging the success of Call of Duty: Warzone in the competition, Battlefield’s early reveal may give it an advantage of its own. Based on the most recent information from leakers, Battlefield 6’s grand reveal is set to come at the end of May or the start of June. While this is not official and is subject to change, a spring reveal was previously announced, making the rumor likely. As such, Battlefield 6 will be able to get out in front of the new Call of Duty, getting the attention of FPS fans long before its competition ever has the chance to do so.

Not only do Call of Duty 2021’s supposed development struggles make an early reveal less likely, but leaks have indicated that the game will be revealed far closer to its actual release. Like Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s reveal, an event inside Call of Duty: Warzone could take place to help build up the hype. This certainly has its benefits, as players can try the game out via a beta shortly after its official reveal. The wait also feels shorter, which is always a benefit. At the same time, Battlefield 6’s strategy makes more sense for an actual competition. With Battlefield 6 screenshots and trailer audio leaking, fans already have an idea of what to expect from the incoming reveal.

When the footage and information does come, DICE will have the chance to win Battlefield fans over long before they even begin thinking about Call of Duty 2021. If the reveal impresses, gamers could lock themselves into a purchase of Battlefield 6, choosing the game as their shooter of choice before even seeing Call of Duty’s offering. If DICE can keep fans invested until the holidays via consistent updates and trailers, this early review could be a huge win for Battlefield. With the stage all to itself, gamers will be able to give all their attention to EA’s flagship shooter.


The Road Ahead

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Once Battlefield 6 and Call of Duty 2021 are officially revealed, gamers can expect to see plenty of hype-building for each game. Trailers and gameplay breakdowns for each game could even take shots at the competitor, causing the war to heat up even further. Likewise, the two titles may build their marketing around what the other game is lacking, attempting to sway players over to their direction. As has been the case with past entries, both Battlefield 6 and Call of Duty 2021 will likely offer gamers a chance to give them a try via a public beta.

As for as their actual releases are concerned, Battlefield 6 and Call of Duty 2021 are likely going to boast two different strategies. In the case of Battlefield, a next-gen only release has been rumored, with the game prioritizing visuals and taking full advantage of the next-gen platforms. An Xbox Game Pass launch for Battlefield 6 has also been rumored, instantly giving the game access to a healthy player base on the Microsoft platform. As for Call of Duty, leakers have claimed that the project will release on last-gen and current-gen consoles, with this following the pattern established by Call of Duty from 2013-2015. PlayStation exclusivity is likely to continue as well.

Finally, the competition will heat up once again post-launch, with the two sides vying to keep gamers interested. For Call of Duty, fans can expect the game to receive six Seasons of free content, with the hope being that players will stay engaged until Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 releases next year. For Battlefield 6, a more long-term strategy could be used. Considering that the game is supposedly only launching on next-gen, yearly releases will not be necessary. Instead, the game will be up to date for some time, with DICE able to support it for years via major updates and changes. While it remains unclear which side will come out on top, the competition between Battlefield and Call of Duty is only going to get more intense as the year goes on.

Battlefield 6 and Call of Duty 2021 are in development for unspecified platforms.
 
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Aldynes

Member
If they don't screw up, Battlefield have a big window here.

The cycle between COD and BF, they make "efforts" when they need to catch up.
Once on top they just monetize to the extreme and don't offer much, allowing a big window for the competitor.
So the endless cycle repeats itself.
 

STARSBarry

Gold Member
EA will have to try damn hard after the misstep with Battfield V, talk about misunderstanding your audience. It seems that EA is hellbent with making the game as casual as possible, hopefully the vehicle systems will return to the games of old so that you actually have a base and that requires an airstrip for people to you know.... take off. By constantly dumbing down mechanics battlefield is becoming more and more generic.
 
DICE really needs to put the effort in for Battlefield. Their Art department and audio guys seem to be the only people actually putting a decent game together now it's just on the designers to make decent gameplay otherwise we'll prolly have another BFV but as 2021 edition.
 
If battlefield launches without crossplay, cross progression , and a good br that can keep people hooked up it won't stand a chance against cod, it not only has to fight the next cod but also warzone that goes hand in hand now
As much as I love battlefield I have a bad feeling they will fuckup big time like 5
 

ethomaz

Banned
Are there even competition? It never existed in the past and today BF is even tiny.

We hear same shit every time a new Battlefield release approaches...

and then it get butchered by COD sales... that does not mean COD is good....
This.
That competition only existed on some minds.
 
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ethomaz

Banned
Pretty sure bf3 moved 20 million
And it was smashed by CoD lol

2011 was Black Ops, 2012 MW3, etc.

BTW the last official data was 17m for BattleField 3 in Nov 2013... at same time (2 years of sales) MW3 shipped 26.5 million... at time CoD Black Ops II was already launched for a year too that had slowed down MW3 sales.
 
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cormack12

Gold Member
We hear same shit every time a new Battlefield release approaches...

Yeah, it does feel like that. Similar to the 'This is the year of PES 'cos FIFA is the same shit' but it never really happens.

If the rumours about BF going to gamepass are true then it will get a lot of people playing a new graphical showcase. I think it would be better for BF to release after COD this year tbh.
 
I’m tired of the same laser shooting gun play of cod and their maps are awful. And ww2 again? Please...

I hope it’s falling behind and they release mw2 instead
 

Arun1910

Member
There is never "competition". I've seen articles like this since BF3 and I'm sure they existed before too.

It will never happen. Even though I personally think BF is the better game, CoD is more accessible to play, it is a lot more arcadey.

Not to mention the sheer size of the CoD fanbase.
 

HeisenbergFX4

Gold Member
I think it was the lighting of player models.

shit was terrible.
I could deal with the ttk shit and the insta deaths shit, but that pissed me if to no end.

Personally I dont care about the social justice stuff if its a fun game and thats been the problem for me BF games lately have not been fun.

What I do hate is this lighting or maybe it was the color palette of the players vs the environment but I too just didnt see players.

I do hope IF it comes to Gamepass this will flood the game with players who wont drop full price on the game but even then it has to be a good game to keep people coming back
 
Yeah, it does feel like that. Similar to the 'This is the year of PES 'cos FIFA is the same shit' but it never really happens.

If the rumours about BF going to gamepass are true then it will get a lot of people playing a new graphical showcase. I think it would be better for BF to release after COD this year tbh.
if BF goes gamepass it just might get more active users than CoD 21
 

V4skunk

Banned
EA will have to try damn hard after the misstep with Battfield V, talk about misunderstanding your audience. It seems that EA is hellbent with making the game as casual as possible, hopefully the vehicle systems will return to the games of old so that you actually have a base and that requires an airstrip for people to you know.... take off. By constantly dumbing down mechanics battlefield is becoming more and more generic.
Agreed.
I also loved killing vehicle campers at home base in the older games!
Jump in a jeep and run them down! Jump out at the last second and the vehicle kills them.
 

cormack12

Gold Member
I do hope IF it comes to Gamepass this will flood the game with players who wont drop full price on the game but even then it has to be a good game to keep people coming back

I think let COD release and people get faigued immediately with the same old, same old, then release a couple weeks later and BOOM
 

manfestival

Member
Articles like this always seem to be the ones hoping to raise Battlefield. They never really compete. They just hit on some of the same audience but you can't even call the gamers for BF games the same ones for COD. Here is to hoping that BF6 is good. I am still happy with CODMW
 

R6Rider

Gold Member
I've never seen so many people running past enemies in a BF game. No idea what causes it. Colour palette, models etc
Unless you're the US against the Japanese on Iwo Jima and can see the tan uniforms against the green grass a mile away. I tend to hide in the grass with my katana like a raptor from Jurassic Park.
 

Diddy X

Member
BF best days are long gone now, they'd need to bring some good stuff (new tech probably) to make it "rival" cod again like BF 3 did or atleast stand a chance in that fight.
 

LiquidMetal14

hide your water-based mammals
Personally, the oversaturation of call of duty titles has really long deteriorated my interest in the franchise. I got Black ops Cold war just mainly because of the promotion where the graphics card so it was relatively cheap.

It's one of the main reasons I'm looking forward to the next battlefield because you get that absence makes the heart grow fonder effect. That's not something you get with call of duty that's already oversaturated and I get it to business and power to them but that's why I've always preferred battlefield not just in the gameplay because I love the vehicles and the bigger battles but sometimes doesn't need to be seen so often I don't special and remain that way.

Battlefield is almost already in the purchase even without seeing anything just because of that alone and I know the gameplay is tried and true.
 

Diddy X

Member
Yeah it feels like they made every cod possible now, and with Warzone who need a new entry now, Cold War already confirmed interest in new entries is dropping.
 

NickFire

Member
Battlefield 4 really impressed me when it launched on PS4. It was a great blend of fun and technical advancements at the time, much more so than COD that year, which felt like it was still resting on its name. That gives me hope that they will hit the ground running on new gen consoles to take advantage of the new tech, and if they do it should make the game really competitive with COD this year. It could even launch them back into high regard across the audience, especially if COD plays it safe and just makes the same game look a little nicer. So I'm definitely looking more forward to Battlefield than COD this year.
 
EA will have to try damn hard after the misstep with Battfield V, talk about misunderstanding your audience. It seems that EA is hellbent with making the game as casual as possible, hopefully the vehicle systems will return to the games of old so that you actually have a base and that requires an airstrip for people to you know.... take off. By constantly dumbing down mechanics battlefield is becoming more and more generic.
Helicopters and VTOL jets could make it easier to accommodate this, just have them on flags/spawn.

I think they've got a problem though that a lot of the players simply want COD on big maps.
 

Sybrix

Member
COD will always win, it’s a game that plays at 100 mph and bullet sponges, it’s a game for idiots.

BF is more slower paced and requires a bit more thinking from the player.

Unfortunately the world is made up of more idiots which is why COD always wins in sales
 
I honestly don't know why cod gets so much hate around here
Let's take mw for an example
Good campaign ,amazing graphics , ground wars , solid gunplay , crossplay, cross progression , solid battleroyale , even good microtransactions and the list goes on and on
but still people hate on it like it makes them cool
 

jigglet

Banned
Who cares.

Both companies are too stupid to make them true long term GaaS titles.

Both will hit the reset button again in 12 months.

So whoever wins, everyone deletes everything and starts again 12 months from now.
 

jigglet

Banned
Battlefield doesn't do yearly releases. 2 years and this time there is 3 years between BFV and 6.

Don't need to take that literally.

The truth is 1-2-3 years, it's all bullshit. If you make a game as beloved as say BF4, just treat it like a GaaS and give it some real long term 10-20 year support. Not the bare minimum to keep it alive, manage it like Rainbow Six or Counter Strike.
 
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Who cares.

Both companies are too stupid to make them true long term GaaS titles.

Both will hit the reset button again in 12 months.

So whoever wins, everyone deletes everything and starts again 12 months from now.
Why would they make a gaas title when their 2019 mw made 600 million dollars in the first 3 days of release
 

jigglet

Banned
Why would they make a gaas title when their 2019 mw made 600 million dollars in the first 3 days of release
My response wasn’t based on profit. My response is to the thread title of the competition between the two games. The competition is meaningless when both companies burn their houses to the ground the moment one of them “wins”.
 
My response wasn’t based on profit. My response is to the thread title of the competition between the two games. The competition is meaningless when both companies burn their houses to the ground the moment one of them “wins”.
There is no competition lolz there was a bit competition back in bf4 days but now cod is way too big for bf , bf can't even compete with their f2p battleroyale even
 

tvdaXD

Member
I can't wait to see what the new Battlefield brings, I personally enjoy 'modern warfare' above futuristic or historic settings in shooters like these. It's been so long since Battlefield 3 & 4, so I switched to Call of Duty for that modern warfare setting. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2019 was my first Call of Duty, which was an amazing fresh new multiplayer experience for me. The new engine is amazing and it plays really well, and doesn't feel like a lazertag arcade with the look of a military shooter like the previous games. Then the new Black Ops released which is a big downgrade... Luckily I skipped that one.
So now it's back to Battlefield.
 
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