A new live-action trailer for Electronic Arts’ upcoming Battlefield 6 features a group of celebrities, including Zac Efron, getting swiftly blown up by a missile in what seems to be a dig at Call of Duty‘s many commercials featuring actors, musicians, and other famous people. It’s the latest example of the two military shooter franchises reacting to one another in a way we’ve not seen in years.
On September 28, EA released the “Battlefield 6: Official Launch Live-Action Trailer.” And like many live-action Call of Duty ads from the last decade, the BF6 commercial starts off with a group of celebs cosplaying as soldiers and getting ready to fight. But just 24 seconds into the new trailer, a missile flies into frame and blows up all four stars in a large, fiery explosion. A group of soldiers then walks through the area, with one asking, “Who was that?” and the other bluntly replying that it “doesn’t matter” before telling everyone to move out.
While the new ad doesn’t directly mention Call of Duty, it’s obvious what EA is doing here. For many, many years, Call of Duty games have used celebrities like Will Arnett, Jonah Hill, Michael B. Jordan, Cara Delevingne, and many others in various live-action trailers. As recently as 2021, Call of Duty featured numerous celebs in a Warzone ad that was heavily criticized by fans for going too far and feeling too silly. This new BF6 trailer feels like a direct nod to those celeb-heavy launch ads and a commitment from EA that it won’t follow in CoD’s footsteps, a move that fans in the comments of the trailer seem to greatly appreciate.
Over the years, longtime CoD players have lamented the franchise’s shift away from grounded combat and realism as bizarre crossover skins and over-the-top future tech have become more prevalent in recent entries. This has all come to a head in 2025 as Battlefield 6, which had a massively popular open beta earlier this year, has gone the opposite direction and doubled down on being a gritty, grounded, and realistic military shooter. Activision has responded by making changes to skins, rolling back plans to let all Black Ops 6 skins move forward into Black Ops 7, and even letting devs talk publicly about the series turning down some collaboration cosmetic deals.
It’s very, very unlikely that Battlefield 6 will outsell Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 this year. But it seems like EA’s FPS might take a bigger bite out of the rival shooter series than it has in previous years, and Activision is definitely paying attention. The news that EA is being bought up by Saudi Arabia’s PIF as well as other investors, including Jared Kushner’s investment firm, has certainly added an awkwardness to BF6‘s rollout, though.
Battlefield 6 will launch on October 10 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. EA won’t talk about a Switch 2 port. Black Ops 7 launches on consoles and PC in November. It also isn’t going to be available on Switch 2.
