Former Blizzard president and Xbox government Mike Ybarra says he expects Battlefield 6 to “boot stomp” Name of Obligation: Black Ops 7 this 12 months.
Ybarra, who served varied roles at Microsoft for 20 years (culminating in a job as company vp on Xbox Dwell and Xbox Recreation Move) earlier than changing into Blizzard president for 3 years, took to X to offer his views on the upcoming return of the Name of Obligation vs Battlefield on-line FPS conflict.
In response to Ybarra’s prediction, Battlefield 6 will come out on high, however he believes this may solely be a great factor for Name of Obligation as a result of it should drive it to enhance.
“Battlefield will boot stomp [Call of Duty] this 12 months,” Ybarra wrote. “However the true win right here is [Call of Duty] received’t be lazy anymore, and we’ll all get higher FPS video games for it.”
When one follower advised that 2016’s Name of Obligation: Infinite Warfare was disappointing however nonetheless outsold Battlefield 1, Ybarra replied that Activision‘s sequence has been getting worse since then, and claimed {that a} revitalised Battlefield will encourage enhancements.
“[Call of Duty] has gone downhill for years since then,” Ybarra wrote. “It’s a multitude. Dishonest, heavy UI/set up, rainbow colours. Individuals are sick of it. Fortunately [Battlefield] will drive them to alter.”
Battlefield will boot stomp CoD this 12 months. However the true win right here is CoD received’t be lazy anymore, and we’ll all get higher FPS video games for it.
— Mike Ybarra 😇 (@Qwik) August 8, 2025
Though Ybarra didn’t initially specify which metrics he would use to find out whether or not Battlefield or Name of Obligation would ‘win’ this 12 months’s battle, he later clarified after one other follower mentioned Battlefield 6 would by no means get the next participant depend than the subsequent Name of Obligation sport.
“What I meant by boot stomp is it should evaluation higher and drive urgency from the CoD crew like by no means earlier than,” Ybarra defined. “Participant counts you possibly can’t use as a result of CoD is free on Recreation Move. Which makes it attention-grabbing to see if it should promote near CoD – perhaps so.
“However I’m not mistaken – extra competitors will make CoD higher and I’m all for Battlefield doing that. It shouldn’t take that – CoD is lazy… 130GB+ installs, sluggish UI, unbelievable dishonest on and on… they should repair it. The one means they are going to is thru competitors.”
When challenged by one other follower who claimed Ybarra was badmouthing Name of Obligation as a result of it’s owned by his former employer and he’s “bitter” about leaving, Ybarra replied that he was glad to have left Xbox when he did.
“[Call of Duty] will get higher as a result of [Battlefield] shall be nice,” he mentioned. “You’re blind when you don’t see that. Bitter? No, glad I’m not a part of the tip of Xbox. Upset they will’t lead groups to make good video games? Sure. As a result of they layoff all these individuals for management’s mishaps.”
Ybarra stepped down as president of Blizzard and left the corporate in early 2024, alongside information that Microsoft was chopping 1,900 workers throughout Xbox, Bethesda and its then newly acquired Activision Blizzard.
“As lots of you recognize, Mike beforehand spent greater than 20 years at Microsoft. Now that he has seen the acquisition via as Blizzard’s president, he has determined to depart the corporate,” Microsoft’s sport content material and studios president Matt Booty mentioned in an inner memo on the time.
