EA is ramping up its Battlefield 6 marketing, this time taking a direct jab at first-person shooter rival Call of Duty.
Battlefield 6’s official live-action trailer dropped over the weekend, and it begins with what looks like a send up of Activision’s star-studded live-action Call of Duty trailers. The classic example here is the ‘There’s a Soldier in All of Us’ video for 2010’s Black Ops, which features the late Kobe Bryant, and talkshow host Jimmy Kimmel firing weapons in a live-action battlefield.
The Battlefield 6 advert sees actor Zac Efron, basketball star Jimmy Butler, country singer Morgan Wallen, and UFC star Paddy Pimblett assume the classes available to play in the game, complete with outlandish gun skins. It looks like the trailer will continue on in the Call of Duty style, but Zac Efron’s rousing speech is cut short by a missile that blows the squad to smithereens.
Surprise! Realistic-looking mil-sim soldiers emerge from the smoke. “Who was that?” one soldier asks. “Doesn’t matter. Let’s move.” We’re then treated to a live-action trailer packed with the kind of explosive action and environmental destruction the Battlefield series is famous for. The trailer ends with the tagline “Only in Battlefield.”
The message is loud and clear: Battlefield 6 isn’t like Call of Duty, it’s a serious first-person shooter.
It didn’t take long for fans to take note of what EA’s trying to do here. “Wait. Game company dissing other game company in their trailer in 2025??? We’re so back on 2010,” said one YouTube user. “They’re literally just roasting call of duty at this point,” said another. “Oh my god they had us in the first half not gonna lie,” added another fan. “I think we know who they’re mocking, S+ marketing team,” said a redditor.
Of course, there’s more to this year’s Battlefield versus Call of Duty showdown than mocking trailers. Developer DICE has indicated it has no plans to release crossover skins that would break the aesthetic Battlefield 6 is going for, and promised the developers were listening to fan feedback.
In a recent interview with DBLTAP, Battlefield 6 design director Shashank Uchil doubled down on EA’s commitment to grounded realism, and even pointed to Call of Duty’s infamous Nicki Minaj skin as something Battlefield 6 doesn’t need.
“It has to be grounded,” he said. “That is what BF3 and BF4 was — it was all soldiers, on the ground. It’s going to be like this,” Uchil said, pointing at the key art featuring soldiers in soldier gear looking out over a wartorn New York City.
He added: “I don’t think it needs Nicki Minaj. Let’s keep it real, keep it grounded.”
Call of Duty’s foray into goofy skins territory is well-documented, although recent releases have certainly amped up the conversation around them. With the likes of Beavis and Butt-Head and American Dad hitting the game this year shortly after weed-obsessed bundles starring Seth Rogen, some fans have said they’ve had enough of what they call the ‘Fortnite-ification’ of their beloved Call of Duty, and pleaded with publisher Activision to return to its mil-sim roots.
Then, last month, Activision shocked the Call of Duty community when it confirmed that Operators, Operator Skins, and Weapons from Black Ops 6 would no longer carry forward into Black Ops 7. This came as a big surprise to players who had expected content they’d bought for Black Ops 6 to carry forward, as it has done with previous entries, and given Black Ops 7 directly follows last year’s Black Ops 6. Explaining the decision, Activision said Black Ops 7 “needs to feel authentic to Call of Duty and its setting.”
It means that at launch, at least, you won’t see all those goofy skins running around Multiplayer. It sounds like Multiplayer will look like Black Ops 7, at least at the start of things. Activision went on to say that Black Ops 7 bundles and items “will be crafted to fit the Black Ops identity.” “We hear the feedback,” Activision added. “We need to deliver a better balance toward the immersive, core Call of Duty experience.”
Battlefield 6 is a crucial release for EA, and based on this live-action trailer, it’s putting its weight behind the marketing of the game. Battlefield 6 leads the charge, releasing October 10 before Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 counter-attacks on November 14. It will be interesting to see which of the two mega publishers is happiest when the dust settles.
It’s been an interesting month for video game companies mocking their rivals with adverts. Earlier this month, Sega reignited its old rivalry against Nintendo with a spicy trailer for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds that went hard on Switch 2 launch title Mario Kart World.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
