EA might have a legitimate rival to Call Of Duty on its hands, as early reports suggest Battlefield 6 has already sold over 6.5 million copies worldwide.
Battlefield 6 already saw massive player numbers on Steam, over the weekend, and while we don’t have official sales statistics from EA yet, analysts claim that the online shooter has made a big splash.
According to estimates at Alinea Analytics, Battlefield 6 has sold over 6.5 million copies in its first few days, across PC and console, earning more than $350 million (£262 million) in gross revenue since it launched on October 10, 2025.
‘It’s closer to Call Of Duty tier numbers than any of EA’s premium shooter efforts so far,’ the post reads. ‘But the question now is whether or not EA can foster this successful launch into a platform that stands the test of time.’
Of these sales, it’s claimed 56.7% came through Steam (over 3.5 million copies), with Sony’s PlayStation 5 making up 23.7% (1.5 million) and Xbox Series X/S sales accounting for 19.6% (1.2 million).
The surprisingly high amount of Xbox sales is cited as a by-product of players on the platform being ‘often drawn to new shooters’. The franchise has also always been PC-centric, much more so than Call Of Duty, which also favours Xbox.
It’s hard to compare these estimated sales with Call Of Duty directly, as Activision hasn’t revealed specific launch numbers for the past few entries, but if true, it’s certainly bigger than any Battlefield launch before it. The previous highest was 2011’s Battlefield 3, which sold 5 million copies within its first week.
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Battlefield 3 is the highest-selling entry in the series, at over 15 million copies sold, but this is barely half of what Call Of Duty titles traditionally sell. According to Game File, via an Activision court filing from earlier this year, 2015’s Call Of Duty: Black Ops 3 sold 43 million copies, while 2020’s Black Ops Cold War hit 30 million copies.
As such, based on these figures, Battlefield 6 is on track to be the highest selling entry in the series yet, but it will have to continue this momentum if it wants to hit anywhere near Call Of Duty level figures.
If the promised battle royale mode lands though, and sales continue to be strong over the Christmas season, it certainly has a chance of coming close. Although once Black Ops 7 launches in November, demand for EA’s may struggle in comparison to the more mainstream Call Of Duty.
If Battlefield 6 has put the series back on the map, one person who can take some of the credit is EA’s executive vice president Vince Zampella. The game designer co-founded Call Of Duty developer Infinity Ward in 2002, but before that he was the lead designer on EA’s acclaimed Second World War shooter Medal Of Honor: Allied Assault, at developer 2015, Inc.
Despite the acclaim, EA chose not to work with 2015, Inc on subsequent Medal Of Honor games, and brought the series in-house instead. Following this decision, many developers at 2015, Inc, including Zampella, formed Infinity Ward and made a deal with Activision, spawning Call Of Duty as we know it today.
Zampella, who is now leading the Battlefield franchise, following the failure of Battlefield 2042, summarised the full circle moment pretty succinctly in an interview. ‘The only reason that Call Of Duty exists is because EA were dicks,’ he told GQ.
However, beyond Zampella, Battlefield 6 has been a huge investment for EA. Unlike previous entries, which were developed by DICE, this new entry is the work of four studios combined: between DICE, EA Motive, Criterion, and Ripple Effect under the newly established Battlefield Studios.
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