Omnihanded Entertainmet News | ‘Call Of Duty’ rivalry with ‘Battlefield’ is heating up

Call Of Duty’s rivalry with Battlefield is heating up with Black Ops 6 going free-to-play at the same time that Battlefield 6 launches.

After a hugely successful beta event, Battlefield 6 is due to launch this Friday (October 10) and EA has already confirmed the game’s season one will begin October 28. Meanwhile Call Of Duty: Black Ops 7 will be released November 14.

However, Call Of Duty has announced that last year’s Black Ops 6 will be going free-to-play for a limited-time. Starting October 9 until October 16, players will be able to access ‘Zombies’, ‘Multiplayer’ and, for the first time in a trial, the ‘Campaign’ game modes.

A Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Free Trial has been announced, available Oct 9 through Oct 16.

The Trial, for the first time ever, includes full access to play the Black Ops 6 Campaign, too, alongside MP and Zombies. pic.twitter.com/ckwJmYSIJm

— CharlieIntel (@charlieINTEL) October 7, 2025

“Hmmmm…. must be a coincidence that it lines up with the Battlefield 6 release date,” one fan wrote on Reddit following the news. “This is why competition is a good thing, lads,” said another.

Activision has also extended the Black Ops 7 beta. The early access trial for the game had been due to finish today (October 8) but will now continue until the day before Battlefield 6 launches.

🚨 Black Ops 7 Beta EXTENDED 🚨

The BO7 beta has been extended and won’t be ending until 9 AM PT Thursday, October 9th.

Also the map Toshin is now live and available to play! pic.twitter.com/hp3H8Thwei

— ModernWarzone (@ModernWarzone) October 6, 2025

Earlier this year, Battlefield released a star-studded trailer that poked fun at Call Of Duty’s controversial celebrity skins. In the live-action clip, Hollywood heavyweight Zac Efron, UFC fighter Paddy Pimblett, professional basketball player Jimmy Butler and country singer Morgan Wallen began to lead a Battlefield 6 campaign before being swiftly blown up and replaced by regular soldiers.

It comes after Battlefield 6’s design director Shashank Uchil said the game had to be grounded. “That is what Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 4 was. It was all soldiers on the ground. I don’t think it needs Nicki Minaj,” he added. “Let’s keep it real.”

Meanwhile Call Of Duty developers have already made several huge changes to Black Ops 7 after backlash from players in the beta test. Skill-based matchmaking has been drastically altered for the first time in six years and unrealistic skins will be left out of the game’s ‘Carry Forward’ feature after collabs with Family Guy, Squid Game and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles divided the fanbase.

“We know there’s been a lot of conversation recently about the identity of Call Of Duty. Some of you have said we’ve drifted from what made Call Of Duty unique in the first place: immersive, intense, visceral and in many ways grounded. That feedback hits home, and we take it seriously. We hear you,” said developers. Some COD fans aren’t impressed with the message though due to a very similar statement being shared ahead of Black Ops 6.

In other news, Skate has confirmed the 21 new songs that have joined the soundtrack as part of the season one update.

Warning: Spoilers for Borderlands 3 and 4 below

After spending a chunk of time on Kairos, players eventually run into the Siren Amara in Borderlands 4 as part of their quest to find the villainous Vile Lector. Amara was the playable Siren character first introduced in 2019’s Borderlands 3, but EpicNNG believes that the files they uncovered pointed toward players originally teaming up with a different Siren at this point in the story: Ava.

Alright I guess we’re gonna talk about it:
AVA WAS CUT FROM BORDERLANDS 4
There are numerous files related to her in the game, more specifically outlining that she was completely replaced by Amara late in development. This means yes, she was originally going to team up with… https://t.co/QF8ESnQp0p pic.twitter.com/tBoVNJ8hpq

— EpicNNG (@EpicNNG) October 6, 2025

The Siren-in-training made her debut in Borderlands 3, but over the years, she’s become more hated than Claptrap due to her role in that game and her overall character arc. The files discovered by EpicNNG have several “Ava” titles, and Amara uses powers that are very similar to Ava’s own Siren abilities that she inherited from her deceased mentor, Maya.

“It would appear everything aside from references has been completely scrubbed, including audio files, models, and more,” EpicNNG added, noting that this might have been an “intentional blunder” from a Gearbox employee, given just how difficult it is to pick through Borderlands 4 data for clues on post-release content. “This game is airtight on datamining,” they explained. “Nothing pre-or post release is in the files as of now. More credibility to this being intentional[ly] left in by a dev.”

Ava’s role in Borderlands 3 drew a lot of criticism, with many players pointing out her grating personality, her role in getting fan-favorite character Maya killed by the Calypso Twins, and her immature outbursts. Essentially, she was the Scrappy-Doo of Borderlands, but a deleted scene from the game did suggest that a redemption arc for her was on the cards, as she realized how her actions had led to Maya’s death.

Last year, Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford asked his audience how they’d feel about Ava returning, with the general consensus being heavily against seeing the young Siren in Borderlands 4.

Whether Ava returns or not remains to be seen, but we do know that another familiar face, Moxxi’s daughter Ellie, will be a major character in the first Borderlands 4 post-launch expansion alongside the new Vault Hunter C4sh.