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Metro
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
Battlefield 6 will force 'lazy' Call Of Duty to change says former Blizzard boss
As Battlefield 6 surpasses Call Of Duty's player numbers on Steam, a former Blizzard president claims it will 'boot stomp' Activision's cash cow. Following its launch last week, the open beta for Battlefield 6 has been a huge success – despite the presence of cheaters on the frontline. Over the weekend, the beta hit an all-time player peak of 521,079 on Steam. This is higher than Call Of Duty's all-time peak of 491,670 players, across both Black Ops 6 and Warzone. While it remains to be seen if this popularity will continue when the game launches on October 10, a former executive at Microsoft and Blizzard has made some bold claims about how Battlefield 6 will fare against this year's Call Of Duty: Black Ops 7. In a post on X, Mike Ybarra, who served as president at Blizzard for three years until 2024, wrote: 'Battlefield will boot stomp Call Of Duty this year. But the real win here is Call Of Duty won't be lazy anymore, and we'll all get better first person shooter games for it.' When a user highlighted how Call Of Duty has consistently outsold Battlefield in the past, Ybarra replied: 'Call Of Duty has gone downhill for years since then. It's a mess. Cheating, heavy UI/install, rainbow colours. People are sick of it. Luckily Battlefield will force them to change it.' For context, 2011's Battlefield 3, one of the best-selling entries in the series, managed to shift 15 million copies. In comparison,2013's Call Of Duty: Ghosts, an entry which failed to meet Activision's expectations, sold 28 million copies worldwide. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. 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 CoD has gone downhill for years since then. It's a mess. Cheating, heavy UI/install, rainbow colors. People are sick of it. Luckily BF will force them to change it. — Mike Ybarra 😇 (@Qwik) August 8, 2025 As such, it's very unlikely Battlefield 6, even with all its positive momentum, will 'boot stomp' Call Of Duty: Black Ops 7 in terms of sales. Activision's shooter has been the dominant military shooter for too long to have its reign dethroned overnight, but if Battlefield 6 does continue to gain popularity, Activision will be forced to pay attention. Ybarra went onto clarify his 'boot stomp' comments in a later post, where he stated that Battlefield 6 will not surpass Call Of Duty's player numbers overall, because it's available on Xbox Game Pass. 'What I meant by boot stomp is it will review better and drive urgency from the Call Of Duty team like never before,' he added. 'Player counts you can't use because Call Of Duty is free on Game Pass. Which makes it interesting to see if it will sell close to Call Of Duty – maybe so.' More Trending With only a few exceptions, such as 2023's Modern Warfare 3, Call Of Duty generally review well, and not significantly less than most Battlefield games. What I meant by boot stomp is it will review better and drive urgency from the CoD team like never before. Player counts you can't use because CoD is free on Game Pass. Which makes it interesting to see if it will sell close to CoD – maybe so. But I'm not wrong, more competition… — Mike Ybarra 😇 (@Qwik) August 9, 2025 'But I'm not wrong, more competition will make Call Of Duty better and I'm all for Battlefield doing that. It shouldn't take that – Call Of Duty is lazy… 130GB+ installs, slow UI, incredible cheating on and on… they need to fix it. The only way they will is through competition.' The big question is whether Battlefield 6 will actually eat into Call Of Duty's audience. While they are both shooters with similar DNA, Battlefield has always predominantly targeted PC players, while Call Of Duty has traditionally sold better on console. For Battlefield 6 specifically, the biggest test will be whether it can stick the landing at launch – something the series has, historically, struggled with in the past, especially when it comes to being bug-free. Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: NBA 2K25 player spends £24,000 on microtransactions: 'It's not worth it' MORE: Baldur's Gate 3 gets an official expansion for Dungeons & Dragons MORE: EA refused to let BioWare make a Dragon Age: Origins remake claims developer
Metro
05-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Games Inbox: Will Battlefield 6 outsell Call Of Duty: Black Ops 7?
The Tuesday letters page predicts an untimely end for Rare, as one reader fears there's no way to improve Starfield with a single expansion. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@ One of kind I wonder if Battlefield 6 has any chance of actually outselling Call Of Duty: Black Ops 7 or at least getting close. As has been said, it did get pretty close when it was at its highest and Call Of Duty was at its lowest, but that's just how it felt down on the ground, I don't know what the sales figures were. I don't want Call Of Duty to go away but I would like to see it lose a few rounds, get knocked down a few pegs, not only so Activision will put in more of an effort but so that other companies see that Call Of Duty is not undefeatable. We shouldn't have just one military shooter, just like we shouldn't have one football game or one racing game. Just a generation ago we had Gran Turismo, Forza Motorsport, and a bunch of others. Now all we've got is Forza Horizon and we haven't even had one of those new in a while. Everything is slowing down and facing less and less in the way of rivals. I feel it's better for everyone if there's proper competition for everything. Heathcliffe GC: Battlefield 4, from 2013, sold somewhere over 7 million copies. It's contemporary, Cally Of Duty: Ghosts, sold around 19 million copies. Ultimate doesn't play the game I don't know what's more tragic: what Rare has been reduced to nowadays (making DLC for a seven year old game and literally nothing else) or the fact that Microsoft thought it could make a couple of quid from selling merch reminding you of what the company used to be before they got hold of it. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. I think we all know why Gregg Mayles left Rare, just as everyone was being laid off, and it wasn't because he thought his job was done and everything was in safe hands. Even if they announced a new game tomorrow it would be five years, at a minimum, before it was out. Such is the tragic state of video game development today. I don't see the studio lasting that long though. If you see a bunch of devs leaving in the next few months that will be the sign that it's on its last legs. Wendel Top 10 What makes me wonder about these Xbox sales figures is what Microsoft must've been pretending to themselves for the two or three years of the Xbox Series X/S. Did they think they could turn things around or were they just trying to convince themselves that 'this is fine'. It's probably the second one and then they thought Game Pass would make up for it all, but wow… Xbox hardware is so dead. I was a little surprised to see that even the Xbox 360 didn't do that well. How does it compare in terms of all consoles? Benson GC: It's the ninth best-selling console of all time, just below the PlayStation 3 and just ahead of the PSP. In terms of only home consoles, it's seventh (or sixth if you don't count the Switch). Email your comments to: gamecentral@ Switch 1.5 I feel Metroid Prime 4 is getting dismissed a bit too much because it's a cross-gen game. It may have been designed as a Switch 1 game but I'm sure they knew about the Switch 2 long before it was made public. If you remember, when the first Metroid Prime 4 trailer came out everyone thought it was Switch 2 footage and Nintendo were secretly putting it out there to see if anyone noticed (and hoping people would think it looked better than it does on Switch 1). The point is, I think it will look at least as good as Mario Kart and Donkey Kong, while being something completely different making use of the mouse controls, which neither of those games do (which is the most obvious sign that they were never designed with the Switch 2 in mind). Metroid Prime 4 is the game I'm most excited about this year, regardless of format, and I'm sure other people will feel the same way once we get a Nintendo Direct on it. Somehow I doubt that will be true of Hyrule Warriors or Kirby Air Riders. Cubbie The lesson is: never try If Starfield comes out on PlayStation 5 within a hundred lightyears of GT 6 then you'll know that Microsoft purposefully did it in order to sink the franchise and not have to bother with it again. The annoying thing about the game is that if you had asked me beforehand I, even as a big Elder Scrolls and Fallout fan, would've said I'd definitely prefer a new IP to just another sequel. Then you see the end result and suddenly you're wishing people would never try anything new again. Obviously that's not true but I don't see any way a new expansion can improve Starfield enough to where it's worthwhile. If anything, the last one made it worse, so I'd just stop while they're ahead. Or only a little bit behind. Boggly Window display I agree with Limpton that Nintendo could handle their Switch 2 PR better but that to me is a completely different question from how arrogant and complacent they're being. They shouldn't have had that Partner Direct in July. Whether or not they had to for contractual reasons is open to speculation, but it was one of those things whose mere existence somehow made the platform less appealing. But that doesn't mean they've been caught nodding or that they've rushed things out. Nor does keeping their powder dry in terms of the longer term pipeline. I'm not going to be as aggressive as Adam was with his feedback but to be honest, I find it slightly shocking that a new console can launch with two proper big exclusives, that were generally very well received and the conclusion is still that the business is asleep at the wheel. Yes, you can be a bit deflated or disappointed when you try those games (although I note playing them hasn't even been a condition for some commentators). But if this is a question of effort, I completely reject the insistence that the Switch 2 has been in any way worse than the Switch 1. The main offence seems to be the absence of a game like Zelda: Breath Of The Wild, which was clearly fully made for the Wii U and sensibly sat on by Nintendo till the Switch's launch. But everything that's happened with console launches since as far back as the first Xbox should tell us a platform holder isn't likely to fully and exclusively dedicate the development of such a game to the launch of a console. I say 'isn't likely' because here we have Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza and, frankly, that borders on miraculous in comparison to what we've consistently had on the front of genuine exclusives with other consoles since the PlayStation 2 generation. The best of which I'd say was the PlayStation 5 with a Demon's Souls remake (which of course carries its own caveats) and Returnal, if you include that as launch window. At the very least, most of the games from the Switch 1 launch window rolled out by Taylor Moon either already have their own analogue on Switch 2 or they don't compare favourably with what's actually on offer this year. Especially when you include the upgrades for the two Zelda games and cross-gen games like Metroid Prime 4. I know this'll come across as an apologist rant, and if I'm being honest, I'd happily swap any short term release schedule in existence for one game like Breath Of The Wild. Plus, I'm not even fully convinced Metroid Prime 4 is going to be as good as I'd like. But to dismiss what has gone into the Switch 2's launch so far as low effort and arrogant does feel to me like little more than typical gamer entitlement mixed with an unhealthy degree of memory loss when it comes to modern console launches. I'm glad the commercial performance so far doesn't reflect that, especially since I think Bananza, in particular, is a much better game than its slightly mixed reception might indicate. Panda Retro Power I see this month's cover story for Retro Gamer is 40 years of the Amiga, so just bought a copy for myself, being a big Amiga fan. Andrew J. PS: I see you can give your opinion on physical and digital games on a new Nintendo Survey, I presume a response to some people not liking Game-Key Cards for Switch 2. I have just filled out the survey myself. Here is the survey if you want to fill it out. GC: We like that the cover is reminiscent of Amiga Power. Decent start I got a Switch 2 a couple of days after launch. While not without its launch fumbles I can't find anything to get mad at. Sourcing the console was easy and not the hell trying to get a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X was at launch and long after. The Switch 2 version of Cyberpunk 2077 sitting somewhere between the PS4 Pro and Xbox Series S was a assuring demonstration of the hardware's potential. It does sound like the screen could of been a bit better. But having come from the OG Switch it's feels like, and is, a big improvement. The recent third party Direct was pretty lame but the presence of Outlaws, Cronos: The New Dawn, and Borderlands 4, it's already a much more encouraging picture for the Switch 2's third party support than the last four Nintendo home consoles have had. With announced third party games like Final Fantasy 7 Remake, 007 First Light, and Elden Ring I'm genuinely scratching my head as to why people think it's this Nintendo console with the third party problem. Even discounting the games I've no interest in, like Pokémon Legends: Z-A, the launch window looks good for me. The execution may have been slightly fumbled, but Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bonanza are fantastic. I also intend on getting Metroid Prime 4, Professor Layton And the New World of Steam, and Hades 2. I'm counting cross-gen, seeing as two of the best Switch launch period games, Zelda: Breath Of the Wild and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, were too. The GameCube addition to Nintendo Switch Online is a treat and I have F-Zero GX and Zelda: The Wind Waker to play for the first time. Performance boosts are a big reason for me buying early this gen. I'm currently enjoying a second run of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom and picked up Bayonetta 3 to play for the first time, now it's frame rate is a solid 60fps on Switch 2. I would of liked maybe one more Switch 2 exclusive I'm interested in and something to really prove the mouse controls, although we'll see how that functions on Metroid Prime 4. Mario Kart World retailing for £75 raises legitimate concerns even with the caveats of it's cheaper bundled or bought digitally. Other than that though, decent. Simundo Inbox also-rans I have just started playing Wheel World and I love it. Beautifully chilled but occasionally reminiscent of Burnout. I've only played an hour or so and I'm really looking forward to sinking many more hours into it. A very pleasant surprise. Ed Very interesting insight into what goes on behind the scenes of rumours. Removing three games from the Direct seems extreme though. Why? Could they really not get 30 seconds of useable footage out of whatever it was? Nintendo gonna Nintendo. Beaker More Trending Email your comments to: gamecentral@ The small print New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers' letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content. You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader's Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot. You can also leave your comments below and don't forget to follow us on Twitter. MORE: Games Inbox: What year will PS6 be released? MORE: Games Inbox: What is the next Assassin's Creed game? MORE: Games Inbox: What is the hardest game on PS5?
Metro
31-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Battlefield 6 release date, open beta, and trailer all leak ahead of reveal
Today will see the official multiplayer gameplay reveal for Battlefield 6 but most of the details, and even official footage, has already leaked. EA is desperate for this year's Battlefield 6 to be as big a hit as Call Of Duty, but the two military shooters have already got one important thing in common: they both leak like a sieve, when it comes to news. We already know a lot about Call Of Duty: Black Ops 7, ahead of its official reveal at Gamescom next month, and while today is the big reveal for Battlefield 6 most of the information has already appeared online already, some of it from EA itself. The release date of October 10 has been rumoured for a while, but EA has accidentally confirmed it by putting a release date trailer live on X before it was supposed to. They took it down soon after, but naturally fans were there to take a copy first, confirming the date and… the fact that the game looks really good. It's only a short 15 second trailer, specifically meant for X, but gameplay footage of the game has been leaking out for months now, from the various closed beta tests. The trailer is clearly edited down from a longer one but that hasn't leaked (yet) but it shows everything you'd expect of a modern Battlefield, with fighting on foot, in vehicles, and lots of destruction effects. Although it's probably using in-game assets the footage is not actual gameplay and very similar to the reveal trailer from last week. There's plenty of leaked gameplay videos for you to watch though, if you look online, even before this evening's reveal. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. Details of the game's maps, weapons, and vehicles have also leaked out ahead of time, but while there's little doubt that they're accurate, there's almost certainly things we don't know about yet, which EA will reveal later. This will not include a price rise though, with EA insisting multiple times that Battlefield 6 will not be priced at $80/£80. Although it will probably be £70. That's likely to be confirmed today as well, as EA will be keen to encourage pre-orders, especially of more expensive editions. The multiplayer reveal is due to start from 7.30pm BST today and that promises to feature proper gameplay footage, with rumours suggesting the event could last up to three hours. Although the highlights will no doubt be some shorter, more digestible trailers. To watch all you need to do is tune in to the YouTube trailer above at the appropriate time, although it also be shown on Twitch. One of the most important details will be when the open betas will start, but that information has also leaked ahead of time. More Trending According to Insider Gaming, there will actually be three betas in August, with a closed one to take place between August 7 and 8. It won't be that closed though, as you can get a code by watching Twitch, from any of the hundreds of streamers covering the reveal. Or you can pre-order the game and get entry that way. The first open beta, that anyone can join, will supposedly take place from August 9 to 10 and then there'll be a second one from August 14 to 17. That's a lot of betas and another indication that not only is EA taking Battlefield 6 incredibly seriously but that it's betting a considerable amount on its success. That's something of a risk, given the mixed reception to most modern Battlefield games, but so far fan reception has been very positive. EA is reportedly also planning a free battle royale mode similar to Warzone, although it's currently unclear when that will start and whether it'll be part of the initial Battlefield 6 package in October. That's not guaranteed to be talked about today though and may not happen until next year. Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: Games Inbox: What will be in today's Nintendo Direct? MORE: The best-selling game of 2025 outsold by Devil May Cry games from decades ago MORE: GTA 6 in danger of being delayed to September 2026 claims insider
Metro
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Call Of Duty 2027 will launch new franchise with martial arts theme says leaker
Activision is planning to launch a new sub-franchise of Call Of Duty in 2027 according to a prominent insider, the first in five years. There are very few surprises when it comes to Call Of Duty these days, both in its gameplay and the fact each annual instalment is usually leaked years in advance. As announced last month, this year's entry is another Black Ops sequel, Call Of Duty: Black Ops 7, from developer Treyarch. While nothing official has been said about the 2026 game, it's rumoured to be a sequel to 2023's Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, centred around Korea and made by Infinity Ward. While some hoped the following entry in 2027 would be a sequel to Sledgehammer's futuristic Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare, it seems the studio might be cooking up an entirely new sub-franchise. According to reliable Call Of Duty leaker TheGhostOfHope, the 2027 game will be 'set in a completely new sub-franchise' in the 'modern era'. While there aren't many details on what will separate it from Modern Warfare, movement is planned to be a 'big focus', which will include a lot of martial arts. 'There may be a focus on martial arts within the gameplay with 'karate kicks' and 'karate chops' as examples,' they wrote on X. It's unclear if this will still be a relatively minor element or some kind of elaborate Sifu-esque overhaul, but it's certainly a bizarre addition if true. Especially given how difficult it is to create meaningful melee combat in a first person perspective. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. EXCLUSIVE: COD2027 by Sledgehammer Games will NOT be Advanced Warfare 2 and will instead be set in a completely new during the Modern Jetpacks but movement is planned to be a big is currently not planned for the High is… — Hope (@TheGhostOfHope) July 17, 2025 The leaker claims the title, developed by Sledgehammer Games, will not feature jetpacks or Zombies mode. However, the parkour-themed mode Get High, which debuted in the studio's last Call Of Duty game Modern Warfare 3, is 'planned' to return. More Trending Not featuring Zombies is a major shift for the series, which has relied on it for its co-op mode for many years now. Although Zombies has begun to seem increasingly in need of an overhaul in recent sequels, so this may be an implicit acceptance of that. While we likely won't get confirmation of these details until around this time in 2027, Call Of Duty hasn't tried to launch a new sub-franchise since 2021's Call Of Duty: Vanguard, a Second World War shooter which fell below Activision's sales expectations. Whether the new game lands with the general Call Of Duty masses or not, the series is in dire need of some kind of refresh – especially as we've been stuck in a Black Ops and Modern Warfare rotation for the past four years. The next instalment, Call Of Duty: Black Ops 7, was officially announced during last month's Xbox games showcase, with a full reveal set to take place at Gamescom in August. Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page.
Metro
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Call Of Duty: Black Ops 7 leak reveals new modes and screenshots via Xbox app
New details have emerged around Call Of Duty: Black Ops 7, including two brand new modes and a hint at the new movement system. Call Of Duty: Black Ops 7 was officially announced during the Xbox showcase earlier this month, and while we know some details about the sequel, it's unclear what sets this entry apart from all its predecessors. Developed by Treyarch and Raven Software, Black Ops 7 is a story sequel to 2012's Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2. The campaign is set in 2035 and follows a team of agents led by David Mason and, as usual, this sits alongside the usual multiplayer and round-based Zombies modes. However, a couple of new additions to the multiplayer suite have since been leaked via the Call Of Duty Xbox app, along with a potential tease towards the game's movement mechanic. According to CharlieIntel, an internal developer-only Black Ops 7 playtest was scheduled to take place this weekend, which 'accidentally pushed the message of the day to everyone' on Xbox via the Call Of Duty app. This message included several screenshots which highlighted two new modes. The first is called Overload, which is described as a team-based 6v6 mode where players 'fight to control a neutral EMP device that must be delivered to the enemy HQ for score'. In other words, it sounds like a reverse spin on Capture The Flag. The second mode is a 20v20 mode called Skirmish, where players complete objectives on a large map in a similar vein to 32v32 mode Ground War. 'Capture points of interest, destroy payloads, and transmit valuable data to score,' the description reads. 'Use your wingsuit to flank and reach objectives before your enemy. The first team to reach the score limit wins!' Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. BREAKING: An internal developer message of the day for BLACK OPS 7 accidentally went live on the Xbox Call of Duty app showing new details NEW MODE: Overload NEW MODE: 20v20 — CharlieIntel (@charlieINTEL) June 27, 2025 This confirms the wingsuit will return in Black Ops 7, after it was previously featured in Black Ops 2 and Black Ops 4. More Trending Earlier this month, Activision confirmed there will be no wall-running or jetpacks in Black Ops 7, as it is set 30 years prior to Black Ops 3. However, Stephanie Snowdon, Activision's senior director of communications, did say it will feature 'an evolution of omni-movement' from Black Ops 6. While it's unclear what this evolution will be, some players have spotted what looks like an exosuit of some kind in the background of one of the leaked screenshots. While it could be a cosmetic item, reliable Call Of Duty leaker TheGhostOfHope has claimed the sequel will feature 'wall jumping' instead of wall running, so it could be related. Activision has not yet announced a release date for Call Of Duty: Black Ops 7, but a full reveal is promised 'later this summer'. Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: Resident Evil Requiem gameplay footage – watch the new trailer here MORE: Jurassic World Rebirth DLC gives you a reason to revisit Funko Fusion MORE: The 20-year-old Xbox 360 just got an update and it was actually kind of worth it
