Despite predicting Battlefield 6 would "boot stomp" Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, ex-Microsoft exec is "rooting" for Activision "to come back with vengeance" after changes to CoD's release strategy

To say Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has garnered a mixed reception would be putting it mildly. In response, Activision has pledged to make some stark improvements and "overdeliver" on the game, as well as announcing Black Ops and Modern Warfare games won't release back-to-back any more. The moves have gotten a vote of confidence from a former Microsoft executive, who’s now cheering from the sidelines despite some earlier criticism.

Mike Ybarra, former president of Blizzard and corporate vice president at Xbox, posted as much on Twitter. "Competition is good. I'm rooting for the Call of Duty team to come back with vengeance - for the players and their team," he states. "They work incredibly hard and remain very talented."

He ends with a throwback of sorts to an older, bolder statement: "We will get a better Call of Duty thanks to Battlefield." Big words, but there's been some truth to them. This is a hugely competitive year for Activision’s FPS series, with Battlefield 6 coming out weeks before Black Ops 7 hit shelves.

That lead time gave the new Battlefield an advantage to begin with, a disparity only compounded by the tepid response this Call of Duty received critically (it's on 67 on Metacritic at time of writing) and within the player-base. Having such a rival helps fuel innovation and the urge for recovery, though, leading us to here and now.

Whether the latest Black Ops manages to pull it back, we'll have to wait and see. The post about the state of the game promises the devs at Treyarch and Raven Software, "won't rest until Black Ops 7 earns its place as one of the best Black Ops games we've ever made." Lofty, but plenty are hoping to see it happen, including people who've been helping make and ship games for decades.

Chatter over Call of Duty: Black Ops 7's skill-based matchmaking kicks up another notch after player runs the tests and finds it isn't quite as open as we'd hoped.