Why Is There Debate Between COD and Battlefield Players?

They're essentially the same game. I have played multiple COD games and Battlefield games. I don't notice a difference between the two, at all, except for maybe the control scheme. So why are COD and BF players always bashing each others games?

If you don't notice a difference, you need to pay more attention.

Just messing with you, they are pretty similar now. Didn't use to be the case though. Battlefield (mostly BF2 and BF2142, but BF3 to a lesser extent too.) was a more tactical, teamplay focused game with vehicles and large maps. CoD was more a run-and-gun infantry shooter. Now they just copy each other trying to chase that money.

In debates, BF was supposed to be the "thinking mans game" and CoD for casuals. In reality, they basically boil down to the same generic FPS game.

Couldn't of said it better myself Battlefield use to be more tactical it was no sim of course but it wasn't arcadey neither it was somewhere in the middle what I like to call the sweet spot. Battlefield 2 IMO was the pinnacle of the series and it's what should define what a BF game should be. It's pathetic how low the franchise has become over the years DICE and EA destroyed the series.

Now? Yeah, pretty much the same game.

Was a different story back when BF was good. Then it was strategic thinking and teamwork (BF) vs. braindead run and gunning (CoD).

I prefer other competitive shooters over these two brands personally.

Tribalism mainly. It is a flaw in human nature. We see the same tribalism elsewhere too

System Wars, MMOs, DOTA vs LoL, TF2 vs Overwatch, CS vs Valorant, jRPGs vs wRPGs, ect.

A year ago I would have argued with you over this, but I agree; they both suck, they are the same in terms of how crappy.

COD and Battlefield used to be fairly unique from each other despite existing in the same genre and dealing with the same subject matter. While COD offered a more "arcade" type of shooter experience generally based on individual performance, Battlefield used to be a "sim-lite" (very, very, very light, mind you) squad-based shooter where the team that coordinated and worked together best tended to win.

Anyway, some notable differences (I am excluding COD Warzone/BR mode and speaking in regards to the traditional COD experience):

• COD is not class-based, Battlefield is
• COD is more about the individual, even on team deathmatch and such; Battlefield is about the squad and teamwork and complementing each other.
• COD has smaller, arena-type maps; Battlefield has huge, sprawling, open maps
• COD doesn't focus on vehicles that much, Battlefield makes a huge emphasis on vehicular combat
• COD treats their non-weapon gear like power ups, Battlefield treats its gear as tools to be deployed regularly on the battlefield.
• COD tends to be faster paced, Battlefield is a bit more tactical.
• COD never really tried to have any semblance of realism, Battlefield tries a little bit to stay grounded.

Shouldn't CoD be compared to CSGO and Valorant while Battlefield compared to Hell Let Loose and Planetside 2?