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The battle for supremacy in the first-person shooter genre has taken a sharp turn as we approach the end of 2025. Early reports indicated that Battlefield 6 was dominating the charts, but fresh data suggests Call of Duty is regaining its footing. While Electronic Arts (EA) enjoyed a massive launch, its momentum is visibly slowing down on console platforms.
Call of Duty Console Engagement: A Reversal of Fortunes
According to new insights from Circana, Battlefield 6 is losing steam in the United States. Mat Piscatella, Circana’s Senior Director, recently shared the weekly snapshot of the most popular games for the week ending December 13, 2025. The data paints a worrying picture for EA.
Battlefield 6 has slipped from sixth to seventh place on both PlayStation and Xbox charts. In stark contrast, Call of Duty HQ currently holds the rank of the second most-played title on both platforms by weekly active users. This is a significant shift, especially considering the initial sales narrative.
However, direct comparisons remain complicated. Call of Duty HQ aggregates player data from multiple titles, including the recently released Black Ops 7 and the free-to-play juggernaut, Warzone. Consequently, there is no reliable way to isolate engagement figures for Black Ops 7 alone.
Top 10 Console Games (Week Ending Dec 13, 2025):
| Rank | PlayStation | Xbox |
| 1 | Fortnite | Fortnite |
| 2 | Call of Duty HQ | Call of Duty HQ |
| 3 | GTA 5 (Remastered) | GTA 5 (Remastered) |
| 4 | Roblox | Roblox |
| 5 | NBA 2K26 | Minecraft |
| 6 | Marvel Rivals | NBA 2K26 |
| 7 | Battlefield 6 | Battlefield 6 |
| 8 | Minecraft | Marvel Rivals |
| 9 | Where Winds Meet | Mortal Kombat 1 |
| 10 | Madden NFL 26 | Rainbow Six: Siege |
Early Sales vs. Current Reality
The current decline in engagement contrasts sharply with Battlefield 6’s explosive debut. The game hit the market on October 10, 2025, over a month before Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 released on November 14.
On November 19, EA proclaimed Battlefield 6 to be the best-selling shooter of 2025. A report from Circana, the very next day, substantiated this claim. The data confirmed that EA’s title became the year’s best-selling U.S. game after just a few weeks. Conversely, reports suggested that Black Ops 7 launch sales were significantly down in select markets. Despite this initial hurdle, the cumulative power of the Call of Duty ecosystem appears to be winning the long game on consoles.
The Steam Anomaly: Where Battlefield Still Reigns
While console players are drifting back to Call of Duty, the PC market tells a completely different story. Steam data indicates that Battlefield 6 is still outperforming its rival significantly in terms of raw player count on that specific storefront.
On December 25, SteamDB recorded the following peak concurrent player counts:
- Battlefield 6: 99,369 players.
- Call of Duty HQ: 51,017 players.
Even with Call of Duty HQ combining multiple games, it barely reached half of Battlefield 6’s player base on Valve’s platform. This suggests that while console activity is dipping, the game retains a very healthy and active audience on PC two and a half months post-launch.
The gap in ecosystem dominance is the next frontier. DICE and EA are attempting to close this gap with Battlefield RedSec, a free-to-play battle royale that launched in late October 2025. RedSec functions for Battlefield exactly what Warzone does for Black Ops 7, featuring progression that carries over to the premium multiplayer.
Currently, Battlefield 6’s seventh-place finish isn’t a death knell; it shows a healthy base. However, unless RedSec can drive engagement effectively, overcoming the combined juggernaut of Warzone and Black Ops 7 on consoles will remain an uphill battle.
