This past weekend, Battlefield 6 pulled off something few expected to see ahead of its official launch. The open beta not only drew in an enormous number of players on Steam, but it also managed to surpass Call of Duty’s all-time peak player count on the platform, a milestone that has fans buzzing about the franchise’s future.
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According to SteamDB, Battlefield 6 reached an all-time peak of 521,079 players during its open beta session this past weekend. That puts Battlefield 6 in 18th place on the list of all-time Steam peaks. By comparison, Call of Duty, which currently exists on Steam as Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (the most active and supported version), sits in 20th place with an all-time high of 491,670 players.
What makes this achievement even more noteworthy and genuinely remarkable is that Call of Duty’s peak number was set almost three years ago, certainly a much different period for both franchises in terms of success. It means that Battlefield 6‘s open beta, which lasted for just a few days, just beat Call of Duty’s peak, despite the title’s live activity for nearly three years.
Is Battlefield 6 The “Call Of Duty Killer”?
For years, first-person shooter fans have tossed around the idea of a Call of Duty killer coming out of the woodwork to dethrone the reigning king of the FPS space. While many have tried, Call of Duty has continued to dominate sales charts and player engagement across multiple platforms for extensive periods of time. Battlefield has historically been the most credible challenger, but in recent years, it has struggled with launches plagued by destructive bugs and extremely controversial design decisions, many of which were not at all received well by players of the franchise.
Now, with Battlefield 6, the conversation has re-emerged. While beating Call of Duty’s all-time Steam peak does not mean Battlefield has overtaken it as the FPS market leader, it does suggest the franchise is regaining strength in a way that fans have not seen in years. Even a beta test breaking such a record speaks volumes about the hype surrounding the game.
When you consider that Call of Duty’s player numbers are spread across multiple platforms and launch windows, overtaking its all-time Steam peak is a significant feat. Steam represents only part of the Call of Duty audience, as the games are also released on the Battle.net client. However, it is still a reliable indicator of raw PC player interest. Still, beating Call of Duty outright across total sales and active players is a different challenge altogether. Call of Duty’s annual releases have a marketing reach and brand familiarity that Battlefield simply cannot match at this point, especially with the past questionable entries of Battlefield still fresh in many players’ minds.
That said, the beta’s record-breaking performance shows that the interest in a true alternative to Call of Duty still has a beating heart. Battlefield 6 has proven that it can compete with Call of Duty on a headline-grabbing level. Whether this momentum translates into a maintainable player base after release will depend on how well DICE and EA can deliver on purging bugs and releasing content updates. While its full performance is yet to be seen, this record is a clear indicator that Battlefield 6 is on track for a strong launch
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