7 Reasons Call of Duty Could Face Its Biggest Rival Yet

On October 13, 2026, Battlefield 6 arrives on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass — almost exactly one year after its October 2025 launch, and just ten days before Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 hits shelves. The timing is not a coincidence. It’s a declaration of war.

For years, the rivalry between Battlefield and Call of Duty has been more theoretical than real. Battlefield had its loyalists, but Call of Duty was the undisputed king of the shooter genre — a cultural juggernaut that outsold, outplayed, and outlasted every challenger. That dynamic is shifting. Battlefield 6 has quietly become one of the most-played games on Steam, with a current active user base that is significantly larger than Call of Duty’s. And now, with Game Pass availability removing the price barrier for millions of subscribers, the battlefield is about to get a lot more crowded.

Here are seven reasons why Call of Duty should be paying attention.

1. The Price Barrier Just Disappeared

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 launches on October 23 at full price — $70 for the standard edition, with premium editions climbing higher. Battlefield 6, by contrast, arrives on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass on October 13 at no additional cost for subscribers.

That’s not a small difference. Game Pass Ultimate costs $23 per month and includes access to hundreds of games. For anyone who was on the fence about trying Battlefield 6, the barrier to entry just dropped from $70 to zero. And for anyone already subscribed — which is millions of players — Battlefield 6 is now a free addition to their library.

“Jump into the definitive Battlefield experience with all-out warfare, fast-paced close-quarters combat, and tactical destruction,” Xbox’s official announcement reads. The pitch is simple, and the price is unbeatable.

2. Season 5 Is Launching on the Same Day

Battlefield 6 doesn’t just arrive on Game Pass — it arrives with a major content drop.

Season 5: Siege of Vegas launches on October 13, introducing two new maps (Las Vegas Strip and Area 51), a brand-new free-to-play battle royale experience called Rapid Royale, and a fresh arsenal of weapons and vehicles.

The new weapons include the Mk 24 assault rifle, the RSPR submachine gun, the Z84M light machine gun, and the ELR-40 bolt-action sniper rifle. The maps are ambitious: Las Vegas Strip takes the fight through casinos, luxury hotels, and underground storm drains, while Area 51 drops players into the world’s most infamous military facility, complete with tanks, helicopters, and a massive central crater leading to a classified underground complex.

For Game Pass subscribers, this means Battlefield 6 isn’t just a back-catalogue title. It’s a live-service game with a fresh season dropping on day one of availability.

3. The Gameplay Is Actually Good Now

Battlefield 6 had a rocky start. The 2021 release of Battlefield 2042 was a disaster — one of the most poorly received shooters in recent memory. Battlefield 6, released in October 2025, was the series’ attempt at redemption.

It worked.

The game holds an 83/100 average on OpenCritic with an 89% critic recommendation rate. Reviewers have praised it as “the best the series has played in a decade,” with the return of the four-class system (Assault, Engineer, Support, Recon) and destructible environments that are “genuinely spectacular”.

The new Kinesthetic Combat System overhauled gunplay and tactical movement, introducing mechanics like crouch sprint and drag-and-revive that make every action feel more instinctual and precise. Battlefield Portal — the sandbox mode where creators can build custom game modes — has been “revamped and refined,” giving the community unprecedented control over the battlefield.

4. The Player Numbers Don’t Lie

At its peak, Battlefield 6 hit over 700,000 concurrent players on Steam. That number has since settled to around 100,000 concurrent users — a natural decline for any game a year after launch, but still significantly higher than Call of Duty’s current Steam numbers.

In January 2026, Call of Duty’s entire franchise — Black Ops 7, Black Ops 6, Warzone, and Modern Warfare remakes — dropped to a low of 52,000 players in a 24-hour period on Steam. Battlefield 6, even after its post-launch decline, was still managing to double that number.

It’s worth noting that Call of Duty remains dominant on consoles, where the franchise has historically performed strongly. But on PC — the platform where Game Pass has its most dedicated audience — Battlefield 6 has established a clear advantage.

5. The Timing Is Ruthless

Battlefield 6 arrives on Game Pass on October 13. Modern Warfare 4 launches on October 23. That’s a ten-day head start for Battlefield — ten days where Game Pass subscribers can try the game for free, get hooked, and potentially decide they don’t need to spend $70 on Call of Duty.

Even more significant: Modern Warfare 4 launches at full price on day one. It is not coming to Game Pass at launch. For subscribers who are already paying $23 a month, Battlefield 6 is free and Call of Duty costs $70. That’s a $70 difference for two games in the same genre, releasing ten days apart.

Call of Duty has never faced a value proposition like this.

6. The “Free-to-Play” Battle Royale Play

Season 5 introduces Rapid Royale, a new free-to-play battle royale experience designed for “fast, aggressive combat”. It features a lower player count, a faster-moving ring of fire, and high-tier loot drops, with mechanics like kill-based redeployment that keep players in the fight.

This matters because Call of Duty’s dominance has always been driven in part by Warzone — its free-to-play battle royale that drew in millions of players who never bought a mainline Call of Duty game. By launching a free-to-play battle royale mode at the same time Battlefield 6 hits Game Pass, EA is directly targeting Warzone’s audience.

And unlike Warzone, which has struggled with player retention and content cadence, Rapid Royale is launching into a game that’s already getting positive reviews and regular seasonal updates.

7. Call of Duty Is Vulnerable Right Now

The timing of Battlefield 6’s Game Pass arrival is not random. Call of Duty is in a transitional moment.

Modern Warfare 4 is a soft reboot of sorts — a return to the Modern Warfare sub-series after a string of Black Ops titles that have divided the fanbase. Black Ops 7, released in 2025, received “poor reviews and low player numbers on Steam”. The franchise’s Steam player count hit a record low in January 2026.

Modern Warfare 4 has the potential to reverse that trend. But launching ten days after Battlefield 6 becomes free on Game Pass gives the rival shooter a window to capture attention and build momentum. If Modern Warfare 4 doesn’t deliver — if it’s buggy, or the campaign is underwhelming, or the multiplayer feels stale — players have a free alternative waiting for them.

That’s a risk Call of Duty has never had to face before.

Battlefield 6 has already

 proven it can compete with Call of Duty on quality. The Game Pass release removes the price barrier, and the simultaneous launch of Season 5 gives subscribers a reason to dive in immediately. With a ten-day head start over Modern Warfare 4, EA has set the stage for the most competitive shooter showdown in years.

Call of Duty is still the bigger franchise. It still sells more copies. It still has the larger console audience. But for the first time in a decade, there’s a genuinely viable alternative — and it’s free for millions of players.

The battle for shooter supremacy is about to get a lot more interesting. And this time, Call of Duty isn’t the one with the advantage.

Battlefield 6 is available now on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 launches October 23.