Key Highlights:
- The Call of Duty Black Ops 7 open beta is now live.
- Unfortunately, this beta pales in comparison to the now concluded Battlefield 6 betas.
- Black Ops 7 has a much lower peak player count as well.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is the newest, annual entry in the long running Call of Duty franchise from Activision. As far as annual releases are concerned, this is a more interesting one, and perhaps represents one of the more challenging years for Call of Duty so far.
After all, the game’s current open beta is nowhere near as popular as Battlefield 6’s beta turned out to be, with a sizable chunk of players missing from the former. This was to be expected though, and Call of Duty might be forced to reassess the situation here.
Black Ops 7’s Ongoing Beta Has Fewer Players Than the Now Concluded Battlefield 6 Beta
Taking a look at recently updated SteamDB charts, the ongoing Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 beta has had an all-time peak of 377,211 players, and a currently active player base of around 25,000 (and a 24 hour peak of 75,211).
This is in sharp contrast to the now concluded Battlefield 6 beta, which had nearly 5 times the playercount (around 500,000 players) in its 24 hour peak. It’s quite the embarrassing situation for Call of Duty, and most certainly does not instill confidence in its player base.
This takes into account currently available numbers for Black Ops 7, whose open beta went live a few short hours ago, on October 5. It should be noted here that player count usually peaks at the time of launch for most games.
Also Read: Switch 2, PS5 Users Could Finally Get To Play Red Dead Redemption 2: Report
As such, this abysmally low number from Call of Duty is quite disappointing (even if the game should manage to regain some lost ground during the weekend, where more players will be able to log in and play).
A lot went wrong this time around for Call of Duty, with many pointing to the stagnating nature of the franchise, and the general refusal to innovate and address existing glaring issues that were already reported in prior games.
In general, most players are tired of the same uninspired, bland copy-paste formula that has become synonymous with Call of Duty at present. Which is quite the shame, given how much of a mammoth the franchise was back in its heyday, during the PS3 and Xbox 360 era.
Battlefield Might Just Be Making a Comeback
2025 is shaping up to be the year for Battlefield. After the rather disastrous Battlefield 2042, EA and DICE have managed to do the impossible, and conjure up a version of Battlefield that both stays true to its roots and breaks new ground, resulting in the creation of a Battlefield game that delivers on almost all fronts, with barely any compromises to speak of.
2042 was a massive let down for most folks, especially after its immensely hyped up gameplay trailer that failed to live up to expectations. To make matters worse, the game lacked any single player component, which is something that EA plans to fix this time around with the release of a dedicated campaign.
It’s not all perfect though, and Battlefield 6 still has a long way to go. For starters, the game can often feel a bit too arcadey, with what appears to be a significant deviation from the existing Battlefield formula of old.
That being said, it’s still shaping up to be a very, very solid game overall and is perhaps poised to be the best military shooter of 2025, which is otherwise jam packed with blockbuster releases.
How the game will fare past its initial phases remains to be seen though.
