The pettiness in the rivalry between EA and Activision is getting epic, and I'm here for it. Battlefield dropped a trailer making fun of COD's obsession with gaming celebrities. This weekend, the Black Ops 7 beta was running, and Activision extended it until October 9. Wait, when does Battlefield 6 drop again? Yep, October 10.
Continuing to pile on, now Activision is making Black Ops 6 free-to-play for one week. For the first time, this trial will even include free campaign access. multiplayer, and zombies. Activision hasn't acted this scared of Battlefield in a while, so they've heard all the buzz about EA's shooter, which has been mostly positive.
In contrast, I'm hearing a lot of negative noise about the Black Ops 7 beta. COD usually alternates between its franchises, but may have gotten giddy on Black Ops 6's glowing reviews and sales. Rolling Stone's Christopher Cruz, in a scathing article titled It's Time for Call of Duty to Take a Break, lambasted this year's two biggest additions: high-tech weaponry and a wall-jumping mechanic.
"Although both could be compelling novelties, neither improves the game," he said. "In fact, they actively detract from it."
Future tech is actually the route Battlefield went with its last installment, set in the year 2042. The reaction solidified plans to make this year's game much more grounded and realistic, which feels like the right move to me.
That said, I have only dabbled in COD briefly the past couple of years. Most of my time with shooters has been in games such as Overwatch and Marvel Rivals. Black Ops 7 feels more like one of those games than Battlefield does, so I enjoyed being what Cruz refers to as a "coked-up jackrabbit" in the in the beta. Will I still be playing it in October 2026? Will I buy it all? I'm not sure yet, but I'm enjoying the rivalry as much as I'm enjoying the games.