Battlefield 6: Beta Breaks All Records — “Will Boot Stomp Call of Duty”
Battlefield 6 has just shattered a historic record on Steam, even surpassing Call of Duty’s peak concurrent players. With two months to go before launch, the rivalry between these two giants is shaping up to be fiercer than ever…
When the open beta for Battlefield 6 kicked off this past weekend, no one expected such a tidal wave of players. The global gaming community rushed in to explore the maps, weapons, and multiplayer gameplay, creating a level of hype rarely seen in the video game industry. Behind this achievement lies one clear fact: EA’s franchise is making a spectacular comeback, and its clash with its historic rival promises to be explosive.
Image credit: DICE
A historic record that shakes the competition
The numbers speak for themselves—and they are absolutely staggering. The Battlefield 6 beta smashed past the symbolic threshold of 500,000 concurrent players on Steam. This massive milestone surpasses the previous Call of Duty record of 491,670 players, set during the launch of Warzone 2.0 in November 2022.
This is Battlefield's biggest Open Beta ever.
Peak time is approaching and queues will be expected. We're working on entry times to the game, but appreciate your patience as you wait for your time to arrive.
We want everyone to experience a smooth and fair Open Beta, including… pic.twitter.com/efaqqzlR1V — ItsHapa (@ItsHapa) August 9, 2025
This remarkable achievement only accounts for the Steam platform, meaning the total number of active players easily surpasses one million when factoring in consoles, the EA App, and the Epic Games Store. This massive audience confirms the public’s hunger for this long-awaited return to form.
The servers are holding up despite the record-breaking traffic. While some queues have formed and a few cheating issues have already surfaced, matches are running smoothly overall—proof that DICE has gone all-in to deliver a relatively stable launch.
The rivalry reignited: a win for all gamers
Former Blizzard president Mike Ybarra didn’t mince words on social media. In his view, “Battlefield will crush Call of Duty this year”—a bold prediction that’s already sparking heated debate within the gaming community. But beyond the fireworks of this rivalry, the industry veteran sees something even more important:
Battlefield will boot stomp CoD this year. But the real win here is CoD won’t be lazy anymore, and we’ll all get better FPS games for it. — Mike Ybarra 😇 (@Qwik) August 8, 2025
- A necessary wake-up call: Call of Duty can no longer rest on its laurels
- Innovation through competition: both franchises will have to push themselves harder
- Better-quality FPS games for all players
- The end of complacency in a market long dominated by Activision
Ybarra didn’t stop there—he pointed to the flaws Call of Duty has been accumulating since Infinite Warfare: persistent cheating, a bloated interface, and flashy cosmetics that stray from the franchise’s military roots. By contrast, Battlefield 6 seems determined to stand apart with more understated skins and a much lighter install size (55 GB minimum, scalable depending on modes).
A showdown set for fall
Scheduled for release on October 10, 2025, Battlefield 6 is in a strong position against the next Call of Duty, which still has no confirmed launch date. Early feedback from the beta has been glowing, praising a return to the franchise’s roots. It’s not flawless, but the remaining tweaks seem minor compared to its clear potential.
Whether this hype will translate into massive sales remains to be seen. One thing is certain: this renewed rivalry promises a welcome revival for the multiplayer FPS genre. After all, nothing beats a good old-fashioned… virtual war.
