'I Love How We All Know Exactly What This Was a Middle Finger To' — Battlefield 6 Live-Action Trailer Takes Aim at Call of Duty

EA is ramping up its Battlefield 6 marketing, this clip taking a nonstop jab astatine first-person shooter rival Call of Duty.

Battlefield 6’s authoritative live-action trailer dropped implicit the weekend, and it begins with what looks similar a nonstop up of Activision’s star-studded live-action Call of Duty trailers. The classical illustration present is the ‘There's a Soldier successful All of Us’ video for 2010’s Black Ops, which features the precocious Kobe Bryant, and talkshow big Jimmy Kimmel firing weapons successful a live-action battlefield.

The Battlefield 6 advert sees histrion Zac Efron, hoops prima Jimmy Butler, state vocalist Morgan Wallen, and UFC prima Paddy Pimblett presume the classes disposable to play successful the game, implicit with outlandish weapon skins. It looks similar the trailer volition proceed connected successful the Call of Duty style, but Zac Efron’s rousing code is chopped abbreviated by a rocket that blows the squad to smithereens.

Surprise! Realistic-looking mil-sim soldiers look from the smoke. “Who was that?” 1 worker asks. “Doesn’t matter. Let’s move.” We’re past treated to a live-action trailer packed with the benignant of explosive enactment and biology demolition the Battlefield bid is celebrated for. The trailer ends with the tagline “Only successful Battlefield.”

The connection is large and clear: Battlefield 6 isn’t similar Call of Duty, it’s a superior first-person shooter.

It didn’t instrumentality agelong for fans to instrumentality enactment of what EA’s trying to bash here. “Wait. Game institution dissing different crippled institution successful their trailer successful 2025??? We're truthful backmost connected 2010,” said 1 YouTube user. “They’re virtually conscionable roasting telephone of work astatine this point,” said another. “Oh my deity they had america successful the archetypal fractional not gonna lie,” added different fan. “I deliberation we cognize who they’re mocking, S+ selling team,” said a redditor.

Of course, there’s much to this year’s Battlefield versus Call of Duty showdown than mocking trailers. Developer DICE has indicated it has nary plans to merchandise crossover skins that would interruption the aesthetic Battlefield 6 is going for, and promised the developers were listening to instrumentality feedback.

In a caller interrogation with DBLTAP, Battlefield 6 plan manager Shashank Uchil doubled down connected EA's committedness to grounded realism, and adjacent pointed to Call of Duty's infamous Nicki Minaj tegument arsenic thing Battlefield 6 doesn't need.

“It has to beryllium grounded," helium said. "That is what BF3 and BF4 was — it was each soldiers, connected the ground. It’s going to beryllium similar this,” Uchil said, pointing astatine the cardinal creation featuring soldiers successful worker cogwheel looking retired implicit a wartorn New York City.

He added: “I don’t deliberation it needs Nicki Minaj. Let’s support it real, support it grounded.”

Call of Duty’s foray into goofy skins territory is well-documented, though caller releases person surely amped up the speech astir them. With the likes of Beavis and Butt-Head and American Dad hitting the crippled this twelvemonth soon aft weed-obsessed bundles starring Seth Rogen, immoderate fans person said they’ve had capable of what they telephone the 'Fortnite-ification' of their beloved Call of Duty, and pleaded with steadfast Activision to instrumentality to its mil-sim roots.

Then, past month, Activision shocked the Call of Duty assemblage erstwhile it confirmed that Operators, Operator Skins, and Weapons from Black Ops 6 would nary longer transportation guardant into Black Ops 7. This came arsenic a large astonishment to players who had expected contented they’d bought for Black Ops 6 to transportation forward, arsenic it has done with erstwhile entries, and fixed Black Ops 7 straight follows past year’s Black Ops 6. Explaining the decision, Activision said Black Ops 7 “needs to consciousness authentic to Call of Duty and its setting.”

It means that astatine launch, astatine least, you won’t spot each those goofy skins moving astir Multiplayer. It sounds similar Multiplayer volition look similar Black Ops 7, astatine slightest astatine the commencement of things. Activision went connected to accidental that Black Ops 7 bundles and items “will beryllium crafted to acceptable the Black Ops identity.” “We perceive the feedback,” Activision added. “We request to present a amended equilibrium toward the immersive, halfway Call of Duty experience.”

Battlefield 6 is simply a important merchandise for EA, and based connected this live-action trailer, it’s putting its value down the selling of the game. Battlefield 6 leads the charge, releasing October 10 earlier Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 counter-attacks connected November 14. It volition beryllium absorbing to spot which of the 2 mega publishers is happiest erstwhile the particulate settles.

It’s been an absorbing period for video crippled companies mocking their rivals with adverts. Earlier this month, Sega reignited its aged rivalry against Nintendo with a spicy trailer for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds that went hard connected Switch 2 motorboat rubric Mario Kart World.

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].