Back in the day, the conversation for best first-person shooter often boiled down to two options:Call of Dutyvs.Battlefield. It’s the age old debate that’s persisted since the seventh console generation. Unfortunately today, many would state that’s no longer the debate. As the latestCall of Dutytitle sees plenty of success, the latestBattlefieldgame has ended its support with a dwindling playerbase. AsCall of Dutyprepares for another annual release despite some development trouble,Battlefield 6eyes 2021 for the franchise’s next entry.
For all the great success thatBattlefield 1brought to EA’s flagship shooter,Battlefield 5failed to capitalize on that momentum. As forCall of Duty,Black Ops 4still performed considerably well and nowModern WarfareandWarzoneare even better. To many this debate has been put on hold, butBattlefieldhas made a resurgence from a poor title before. Both series are poised for their next entries over the course of this next year of releases, meaning this debate could come back.
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Call of Duty 2020: Another Peak for the Series?
For right now,Call of Dutyhas had much more momentum moving into the next year than it’s ever had before.Largely in thanks toWarzone’s surprising success, as well asModern Warfare’s praise upon release and continued success, the franchise finds itself in somewhat of a peak. But, like every year,Call of Dutywill be prepping for a 2020 annual release. Rumors have been flying for 2020’sCall of Dutygame from a variety of leaks detailing what to expect, with little corroboration and the lack of an official announcement from Activision. That being said, 2020’sCall of Dutywill still need to follow up and topModern Warfarein some way.
As forwhat to expect from 2020’sCall of Duty, there’s a relatively common theme between most rumors.Call of Duty 2020will likely be an entry in theBlack Opssub-series, the most popular form of a modernCall of Dutygame out there. Building off of that, many rumors state the next entry will return to the Cold War or Vietnam in some way. Following in line ofModern Warfare’s soft reboot, 2020’sCall of Dutycould be doing something similar. Campaign will likely return as well, despite the fact thatBlack Ops 4eschewed the single-player mode to make way for the highly popularBlackoutbattle royale. Obviously, multiplayer will make a similar return as well.
Battlefield 6: Getting Out of the Slump
On the other hand,Battlefieldhas been in a bit of a slump with the lackluster release ofBattlefield 5. Unfortunately the game simply suffered under its own ambition in a lot of ways. Whether it was under-delivering with its expansion schedule or over-promising with its Firestorm battle royale,Battlefield5puts the series in a tough bind. It’s very possible that the nextBattlefieldentry will need to return to the drawing board. That being said,Battlefield 6is in development for PS5/Xbox Series X, so DICE is still mounting a comeback for the series.
Even thoughCall of Dutyseems to get a plethora of rumors and leaks for its next release,Battlefieldis definitely more tightly sealed when it comes to leaks and rumors. There’s practically no information out there about the game, but that’s got more to do with development not being as far long as 2020’sCall of Dutytitle. Many theories state thatBattlefield 6would be returning to a modern setting, which makes a lot of sense.Battlefield 3/4as well as theBad Companygames saw plenty of success simulating modern military combat. Thought the setting isn’t exactly what’s going to save the franchise, it’s got more to do with development priority being misplaced.
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CoD vs. Battlefield: Reigniting the Discussion
ForBattlefieldto reignite the “who’s better” arguments from its past, the franchise will need to seriously focus on what used to be the game’s signature identity. Destructible environments have been a staple inBattlefieldthanks to the graphically impressive physics in the Frostbite engine. It’s never been taken out of the game per se, but with each new release the destruction has been taken out of the spotlight. Destruction was huge forBad CompanyandBad Company 2because it was both free-flowing and integral to the map design.Battlefield 3introduced “Levolution” to try and mix up the mechanic, but in turn made destruction much more linear and predictable. Reinventing a more unpredictable destruction system would bethe perfect way to bring back classicBattlefieldin a brand new form.
Call of Duty, despite being relatively on top of its game in the past year, will need to determine how it’s going to shake things up for its annual release.Modern Warfareadded a lot of different changes that made the game very similar toBattlefield, especially with the revamp of the Ground War multiplayer mode. ButCall of Dutycould run into an issue ifBattlefieldis able to follow up with its own core modes that ends up being a better version of Ground War.Black Ops 4introducedBlackoutas its standout mode to great acclaim, but withWarzoneout and continually boasting huge player numbers,2020’sCall of Dutywouldn’t want to compete with that. This year’sCall of Dutywill need to figure out what its core difference will be this year, and Zombies can only carry Treyarch so far.
OnceBattlefieldis back on the map again andCall of Dutydoesn’t lose steam, that once ubiquitous debate could make its return.Call of Dutywill need to find another way to reinvent the wheel like its done countless times before. Assuming these two fall in line and each game sees its own unique success, fans will be happy to engage in this discussion again.
