Battlefield 6 v Black Ops 7 was the 2025 shooting game of the year showdown - but neither won

It was supposed to be the year Call of Duty finally had a worthy competitor for the first time in a long while in a straight shootout with Battlefield for the best multiplayer shooting game of 2025.

But there's another one that's unexpectedly come out of nowhere and beaten them both.

Battlefield and Call of Duty are very different in terms of the experiences they offer nowadays, with Battlefield being more grounded and strategic with Call of Duty more arcade-like and fast-paced, but the rivalry has been going on for more than two decades.

In 2025, anticipation had been bubbling up since February when Electronic Arts (EA) announced Battlefield Labs was opening for players to test what they'd been working on. It was obvious a new Battlefield game was on the way but further details were scarce at this stage.

That was until there was a mountain of leaks from the playtests, despite participants having to sign agreements not to disclose anything they saw, which seemed to set the anticipation levels for a new Battlefield at fever pitch.

There was a mix of excitement and trepidation following the dismal launch of Battlefield 2042 but these leaks showed a new Battlefield would be going back to the roots of Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 4, which are widely considered to the be the best in the series.

Battlefield 6 was eventually officially revealed in July with a more grounded, modern approach to warfare - and when the open beta went live in August, results spoke for themselves, setting a record for the most amount of players playing a beta at one time.

And it didn't stop there.

Battlefield 6 has had a remarkable launch: it's the best selling game of 2025 physically and digitally in the US, the best selling Battlefield ever, had the highest one-month US sales figures in three years and sits as the best selling game on Xbox and PC in 2025 and second on PlayStation, only behind NBA 2K26, according to global market research and technology company Circana.

It's not all been plain sailing though - REDSEC has been met with mixed views with it featuring a Battle Royale mode and hardcore Battlefield players aren't the biggest fan of the live service model.

But it's performed much better than recent Call of Duty games in the US. (It should be noted here Black Ops 6 launched on Game Pass day one last year, as did Black Ops 7 this year.)

Battlefield 6's gameplay is much more tactical and grounded - and it's fantastic / Battlefield Studios, Electronic Arts

On the other side of the fence, it was rumoured for a while the next Call of Duty would be Black Ops 7 and this was confirmed in August. Call of Duty is a commercial force and, reportedly, no other shooter has outsold it in the US since 2006.

Black Ops 6 had a strong launch last year and went down well among players - until controversial skins started to detract from the experience and gain ever growing grumblings online.

The tipping point was the Beavis & Butthead pack although these kind of skins were around long before that.

It drew such a vociferous reaction from its community that Activision has arguably been trying to make amends ever since, completely removing this style of skin from Black Ops 7 and even confirming it had cancelled some pre-agreed partnerships after taking community feedback on board.

The first half of the open beta in October was met with a bit of a mixed reaction but Activision really captured people's attention when it confirmed skill-based matchmaking (SBMM) would be minimally considered in Black Ops 7, a feature players have wanted to see return for years.

It brought hype to Black Ops 7 ahead of its release - but the game doesn't seem to have proved as popular as Activision would have hoped.

The campaign was widely ridiculed online for it being just so ridiculous and this seemed to stick with a lot of players. While campaigns aren't the deciding factor of a multiplayer experience, having a really strong one really resonates, again think back to the Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops days, and having a weak one can be off-putting.

The multiplayer and zombies components of Black Ops 7 have been refined over its predecessor but I just can't shake the feeling I enjoy the gameplay and progression loop more in Battlefield 6.

I have a game of Call of Duty now and can sometimes come away feeling a bit empty as I've just been mindlessly running and gunning. I felt it before I dropped off with Black Ops 6 and felt it again playing Black Ops 7.

To be clear, I've been a big Call of Duty fan since the original Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops 2 days. I've also been a fan of Battlefield since Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 4 around a similar time.

Battlefield 6 just gives me that sense of working together in a team and performing the role I've chosen to complete certain objectives, which I feel as though I need to perform well in order to actually succeed, which I've been enjoying a lot more and it's been my go-to first-person shooter.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 didn't just lose out to Battlefield 6... But there's one game both lost to / Activision

So, debate settled. Battlefield 6 has won. Right? Well... Not exactly.

What was supposed to be a straight fight between the two titans in the multiplayer shooter space has been eclipsed by something unexpected - and that's ARC Raiders.

It's a third-person extraction shooter with PvPvE (player versus player versus environment) where players take on the role of a raider to go up to the Earth's surface in a post-apocalyptic setting where not only do they have to gather resources and loot for survivors - but they also have to contend with raiders potentially taking them down for all they're worth too. You can play solo or in a squad of up to three in total.

The gameplay is fantastic, tense and addictive but the real thing that elevates ARC Raiders above both Battlefield 6 and Black Ops 7 is the depth and quality of the unscripted moments it allows players to have where I can create my own story and have completely unique experiences to anyone else.

Anyone that's played ARC Raiders will undoubtedly have their own countless stories of how rounds have unfolded for them and of their interactions with other players.

I've played a good number of hours and I've experienced a squad saving me through to extraction only to knock me out at the very end to take all of my loot, coming across another player near the extraction point and working together to get out of there and a raider barely making it to my cover alive, kindly asking for some bandages for some loot in return before going our separate ways.

I've experienced raiders taking down a teammate of mine after we briefly split up to grab some loot only to be ambushed, a raider showing no mercy when knocking out another raider but then strangely not coming after me after being spotted and being less than three seconds away from extracting before being knocked out as my health drained away and losing everything.

And these are just the ones that immediately spring to mind. I've no doubt others will have much more outlandish and outrageous experiences and I will come across my own too.

I've personally never experienced anything like the immersion, tension and sheer quality of these unscripted moments in a multiplayer game before. Even when I get betrayed, I want to immediately dust myself down and get straight back in.

And this is all before even before taking into account that great gameplay loop.

ARC Raiders is my shooter and multiplayer game of the year 2025 / Embark Studios, Nexon

Although it's a multiplayer game, and it has a very loose thread to tie everything together, ARC Raiders doesn't tell you a story but allows you to experience and share your own.

The pure quality of this experience while playing a multiplayer game is something I've never come across before and having played ARC Raiders, Battlefield 6 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 all extensively, that's the main reason why ARC Raiders has unexpectedly come in to steal the place of the best shooter and multiplayer game of 2025.

Elsewhere from indy100:

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 review - the good, the bad and the ugly
• Battlefield 6 review: Battlefield is back - but fans will be expecting more

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