Call Of Duty outsold by Battlefield for the first time ever in 2025

In a defining moment for Battlefield, its newest entry has officially outsold Call Of Duty, but the war between the two franchises is only set to intensify.

For over a decade, Call Of Duty has ran unopposed as the premiere paid-for multiplayer shooter, but in recent years there have been signs that it is struggling to maintain its popularity.

Each new release has seen no shortage of complaints (some more widespread than others) and the franchise was bleeding players even before Microsoft bought Activision and made new entries day one Game Pass titles.

There have been signs of a shift behind the scenes, following the launch of Black Ops 7, but if Activision wasn’t already planning some big changes, it will be now as, for the first time ever, Call Of Duty has been outsold in the US by one of EA’s Battlefield games.

On one hand, this shouldn’t be a surprise. Not only did Battlefield 6 see a much warmer reception at launch last year, but it quickly became the US’s best-selling game of 2025.

Granted, this was before Black Ops 7’s launch in November, so there was still a chance Call Of Duty would snatch the crown back. But while Black Ops 7 was the top-selling PlayStation 5 game of November, in both the US and Europe, it quickly became clear that its poor reception was hindering its sales, not just in the US but worldwide too.

It would’ve required a miracle for Black Ops 7 to turn things around in less than two months and now, based on new sales data from Circana analyst Mat Piscatella, Battlefield 6 can safely be called the US’s best selling game of 2025.

Black Ops 7 didn’t even manage second place, coming in fifth behind NBA 2K26, Borderlands 4, and Monster Hunter Wilds.

There are a number of factors responsible for this. Aside from the growing discontent with Call Of Duty over the years, and strong marketing from EA, Black Ops 7 launching on Xbox Game Pass would’ve eaten into its sales numbers.

Plus, Battlefield 6 had a head start by launching more than a month earlier in October and left enough of a strong impression to position itself as a real alternative for those dissatisfied with Call Of Duty.

The same can be said for multiplayer extraction shooter Arc Raiders. While it didn’t make it into the US’s best-selling games of 2025 list, it’s also proven very popular, even becoming Google’s most searched video game of last year.

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In other words, Call Of Duty has some serious competition now, so it can’t just coast on brand recognition anymore if it wants to retain players. It’s an especially ironic turn considering Activision upper management reportedly wasn’t worried about Battlefield 6 and had faith Black Ops 7 would be a big hit.

EA, meanwhile, must be thrilled with Battlefield 6’s performance, with the franchise having managed to turn things around after its reputation took a nosedive with Battlefield 2042.

The question now is whether EA can keep the momentum going throughout 2026 and beyond with post launch support. It apparently has very lofty ambitions for Battlefield 6 and the game will be under more pressure to succeed once the big EA buyout finalises, since the deal will leave the company in $20 billion of debt.

Battlefield 6 will also need to manage without series overseer Vince Zampella, who tragically died in a car crash last month.

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