Battlefield 6 has taken a shot at Call of Duty in its new live-action trailer, which premiered on Sunday, September 28. The not-so-subtle jab involving celebrity cameos underlines EA's ongoing push to position Battlefield 6 as a direct rival to Call of Duty that specifically caters to players preferring military sim aesthetics over wacky cosmetics.
From Kit Harington and Ice Cube to Helena Bonham Carter and Idris Elba, Activision has long leaned on celebrity-fronted marketing for promoting Call of Duty. The new live-action trailer for Battlefield 6 riffs on this concept in quite a bombastic way, both literally and figuratively.
Battlefield 6's Campaign Has Less Than 10 Missions
Battlefield 6 fans shouldn't expect a lengthy single-player campaign when the game launches next month, as there will be fewer than 10 missions.
Battlefield 6 Mocks Call of Duty Cosmetics in Live-Action Trailer
The two-minute promo video signaling the mid-October 2025 launch of Battlefield 6 opens on four celebrities: actor Zac Efron, NBA star Jimmy Butler, country singer Morgan Wallen, and British mixed martial artist Paddy Pimblett. They appear in customized tactical gear and carry weapons with highly exaggerated skins, a nod to the wacky cosmetic style Call of Duty has embraced in recent years. After some dramatic slow-motion close-ups, Efron begins to say, "We’re here to do one thing, and one thing—" only for the group to get blown up by a missile before he can finish the sentence.
The unsubtle metaphor continues as a conventional military squad representing Battlefield 6 soldiers moves onto the scene. "Who was that?" One of the soldiers asks, to which another replies, "It doesn’t matter." Whether the symbolic meaning behind that statement will prove true remains to be seen, but as the jab clearly demonstrates, EA is not shying away from positioning Battlefield 6 as direct rival to Call of Duty, and an alternative for people who are either fatigued with the Activision franchise's more colorful approach to cosmetics or have never wanted it in the first place.
All Celebrity Cameos in Battlefield 6 Live-Action Launch Trailer
- Zac Efron
- Jimmy Butler
- Morgan Wallen
- Paddy Pimblett
The live-action trailer has amassed over half a million views on YouTube within hours of going live on September 28. It also elicited thousands of comments, many from highly amused fans praising its concept. "Give whoever's in the marketing department a raise," one of the top YouTube comments reads, with another one acknowledging that EA's "marketing team understood the assignment."
Activision Reportedly Isn't Worried About Battlefield 6
The previous mainline entry in the franchise, Battlefield 2042, is estimated to have sold over 10 million units since its November 2021 launch. DICE producer Jeremy Chubb recently shared that he expects the next game to perform even better commercially. Unofficially, sources close to Activision claim the publisher isn't worried about Battlefield 6, and that it considers Call of Duty "too big to fail," irrespective of what its rivals are doing. Battlefield 6 releases October 10, while Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 will hit the market on November 14.
Battlefield 6
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 83 /100 Critics Rec: 90%
- Released
- October 10, 2025
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, In-App Purchases, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- Battlefield Studios
- Publisher(s)
- EA
