One of the worst Battlefield games has more players on Steam than the two most recent Call of Duty games, and it's all because of some Battlefield 6 freebies

The Battlefield 6 beta saw a huge number of gamers flooding Steam to play the destructive shooter. It looks like EA's attempt to capitalize on that success by funneling everyone into Battlefield 2042 is going well, as that too now has more concurrent players than Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Warzone.

In case you didn't know, people aren't just going to Battlefield 2042 to tide them over until Battlefield 6 launches on October 10. Instead, EA is dangling treats in front of everyone. That's right, if you play the new Road to Battlefield 6 update, you'll get a bunch of rewards for the upcoming game and be able to revisit the fan-favorite Iwo Jima map.

To unlock the Battlefield 6 rewards, just play the free Battlefield 2042 update between now and October 7 and level up the free pass. Then, as long as you link the same EA account to both games, you'll automatically unlock whatever cosmetics you've earned. And don't worry, Battlefield is keeping skins grounded – for now, at least.

As a result, Battlefield 2042's player count has shot up from around a few thousand to a recent peak of 64,733. The combined Call of Duty tag on SteamDB, which counts Black Ops 6, 7, and Warzone, had a peak of 55,246. So one of the worst Battlefield games is doing better than the two latest Call of Duty games combined – shocking stuff.

Clearly, the chance of getting some free goodies in Battlefield 6 has been enough of an incentive to get people back into the older game. I've even been tempted to buy it just to fill the void left by the beta.

If you're not inclined to do that, then check out the best FPS games you can play while you wait.