The Battlefield franchise has been a defining IP among the saturated market of first-person shooters. Launching in 2002, the series has explored many conventions of warfare across a huge span of time periods, redefining what can be expected from large-scale online FPS gameplay.

Despite the industry-wide respect that is placed upon Battlefield, its recent shortcomings have put it significantly behind its main competitor in terms of relevance. With how bright the immediate future of Call of Duty looks, it seems that the Battlefield franchise requires some serious amount of reinvigoration to be able to once again compete in the shooter market.

RELATED: Halo Co-Creator May Be Directing the Next Battlefield Single-Player Campaign

The Recent Decline of Battlefield

prime-day-battlefield-2042-discount

The Battlefield franchise historically established itself within the FPS market due to the unrivaled scale and detail of its online gameplay. Sporting its trademark "levolution" mechanic that allows players to destroy huge structures and dynamically interact with extremely detailed maps, Battlefield has always been seen as a more visceral, tactical, and grounded gameplay experience in comparison to the more fast-paced nature of Call of Duty.

That being said, recent installments of the Battlefield franchise have failed to compound and build upon this previously successful formula, and have arguably even regressed what is now expected from Battlefield gameplay. Seeds of controversy were first sewn with the tumultuous launch of Battlefield 5 due to its perceived disregard for historical accuracy, marking the beginning of a more strained relationship between DICE and the Battlefield fan base.

It is no secret that Battlefield 2042, the most recent mainline title in the franchise, has not been nearly as successful as DICE and EA would have hoped prior to its launch. Battlefield 2042 has become known for its tumultuous launch, launching without features that many consider being absolute necessities for an online experience such as in-game leaderboards. With the game currently having a lower average player count than much older franchise titles and being on sale for under $20 despite being less than a year old, it can be said the franchise is at a historic low.

The Recent Revival of Call of Duty

ghost mw2

To make matters worse for Battlefield, its biggest industry competitor Call of Duty is having something of a franchise revival, compounding the negative elements of the former's recent titles. While the more recent releases of Cold War and Vanguard were comparatively less successful, 2019's Modern Warfare was a watershed moment for Call of Duty's recent player engagement and popularity.

A contemporary reboot of the iconic Modern Warfare franchise, the visceral gameplay, and returning beloved characters such as Captain Price saw the 2019 title become extremely popular within the FPS community. In conjunction with the popularity of its singleplayer and base-multiplayer modes, the 2020 release of Call of Duty: Warzone propelled the franchise to the forefront of the gaming industry as a whole.

Being Call of Duty's take on the massively popular battle royale genre, Warzone reached 60 million players within two months of release and is still one of the most popular battle royales in the gaming sphere. This momentum is set to be carried forward with the upcoming release of Modern Warfare 2, which has been billed to be the "most advanced Call of Duty to date." With hype for the title already being high due to the success of its predecessor, it is set to launch alongside a Warzone 2, only further increasing the immediate prospects of the IP. Despite the two franchises historically going blow-for-blow for two decades, the anticipated future success of Call of Duty seems to leave the struggling Battlefield in a position where it simply cannot compete.

MORE: Call of Duty: Warzone Hit With Plagiarism Accusation Over New Skin