In the early hours of the 20th (KST), the gameplay trailer for 'Call of Duty: Black Ops 7' was unveiled at the Gamescom Opening Night Live, and it is currently facing a massive backlash from the player base.

While the clip garnered 9.8 million views globally within just 13 hours of release, the reception is overwhelmingly icy. The YouTube video sits at 28,055 'likes' compared to a staggering 96,032 'dislikes'. The comment section is equally brutal, with fans lamenting the series' loss of identity and the haphazard construction of the trailer itself.

The primary grievance? Despite the title explicitly promising 'gameplay,' the video is saturated with cinematics, leaving actual in-game footage feeling like an afterthought. One viewer quipped, "It’s a gameplay reveal trailer, except it forgot to include the gameplay," capturing the widespread frustration.

There is also a palpable resentment toward the shift back to a futuristic setting—a concept reminiscent of 'Infinite Warfare.' Set in 2035, the narrative follows a struggle against 'Guild,' a criminal organisation turned high-tech arms dealer armed with drones and mind-control tech. Viewers are clearly not impressed; one remark compared the return to this style of play to "re-releasing Morbius in cinemas," while others suggested that a simple remaster of Black Ops 2 with fresh maps and guns would have been a guaranteed million-seller.

The discourse has inevitably turned to Battlefield 6, which recently concluded its testing phase. It seems years of simmering frustration with the Call of Duty series have found a vent in these comments. Fans are actively praising Battlefield 6 as a superior alternative, with one user writing, "As a lifelong Call of Duty player, I can safely say I’m done. After playing the BF6 beta, I’ve fallen in love with shooters again. Call of Duty is dead. See you in BF6!" Another added that switching to BF6 feels like "breaking up with a toxic ex who only cared about emptying my wallet."

This reaction stands in stark contrast to the reception of the Battlefield 6 trailer, which dropped on August 1st to 287,000 likes and a mere 1,151 dislikes.

Battlefield 6 is set to launch on October 11, while Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 follows on November 14. As these two titans of the FPS market clash once again this autumn, we wait with bated breath to see which one will truly conquer the charts.