''Call of Duty'' is a

first-person shooter A first-person shooter (FPS) is a video game genre, video game centered on gun fighting and other weapon-based combat seen from a First person (video games), first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action directly through t ...

military

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

series and

media franchise A media franchise, also known as a multimedia franchise, is a collection of related media in which several derivative works have been produced from an original creative work of fiction, such as a film, a work of literature, a television program, o ...

published by

Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...

, starting in 2003. The games were first developed by

Infinity Ward Infinity Ward, Inc. is an American video game developer. They developed the video game '' Call of Duty'', along with seven other installments in the ''Call of Duty'' series. Vince Zampella, Grant Collier, and Jason West established Infinity W ...

, then by

Treyarch Treyarch Corporation ( ; formerly Treyarch Invention LLC) is an American video game developer based in Los Angeles with Additional studio locations in Vancouver, Canada; and Austin, Texas. Founded in 1996 by Peter Akemann and Doğan Köslü, it ...

and

Sledgehammer Games Sledgehammer Games, Inc. is an American video game developer company formed in 2009 by Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey. The pair formerly worked at EA Redwood Shores and are responsible for the creation of ''Dead Space (2008 video game), Dead ...

. Several spin-off and handheld games were made by other developers. The most recent, '' Call of Duty: Black Ops 6'', was released on October 25, 2024. The series originally focused on a

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

setting, with Infinity Ward developing ''

Call of Duty ''Call of Duty'' is a first-person shooter military video game series and media franchise published by Activision, starting in 2003. The games were first developed by Infinity Ward, then by Treyarch and Sledgehammer Games. Several spin-of ...

'' (2003) and ''

Call of Duty 2 ''Call of Duty 2'' is a 2005 first-person shooter, first-person shooter game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision in most regions of the world. It is the second installment of the Call of Duty, ''Call of Duty'' series. Announc ...

'' (2005) and

developing ''

Call of Duty 3 ''Call of Duty 3'' is a 2006 first-person shooter game developed by Treyarch and published by Activision. It is the third major installment in the ''Call of Duty'' series. It was released for PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and W ...

'' (2006). Infinity Ward's '' Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare'' (2007) introduced a modern setting and proved to be the breakthrough title for the series, creating the ''Modern Warfare'' sub-series; a ''Modern Warfare'' remastered version released in 2016. Two other entries, '' Modern Warfare 2'' (2009) and '' Modern Warfare 3'' (2011), were made. The sub-series received a reboot with ''

Modern Warfare Modern warfare is warfare that diverges notably from previous military concepts, methods, and technology, emphasizing how combatants must modernize to preserve their battle worthiness. As such, it is an evolving subject, seen differently in dif ...

'' in 2019, '' Modern Warfare II'' in 2022, and '' Modern Warfare III'' in 2023. Infinity Ward has also developed two games outside of the ''Modern Warfare'' sub-series, ''

Ghosts In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

'' (2013) and '' Infinite Warfare'' (2016). Treyarch made one last World War II-based game, '' World at War'' (2008), before releasing ''

Black Ops A covert operation or undercover operation is a military or police operation involving a covert agent or troops acting under an assumed cover to conceal the identity of the party responsible. US law Under US law, the Central Intelligence Ag ...

'' (2010) and subsequently creating the ''Black Ops'' sub-series. Five more entries, '' Black Ops II'' (2012), '' Black Ops III'' (2015), '' Black Ops 4'' (2018), '' Black Ops Cold War'' (2020), and '' Black Ops 6'' (2024) were made, the latter two in conjunction with

Raven Software Raven Software Corporation (trade name: Raven; formerly Raven Software, Inc.) is an American video game developer based in Middleton, Wisconsin, and part of Activision. Founded in May 1990 by brothers Brian and Steve Raffel, the company is most ...

. Sledgehammer Games, which were co-developers for ''Modern Warfare 3'', have also developed three titles, ''

Advanced Warfare ''Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare'' is a 2014 first-person shooter game published by Activision. The eleventh major installment in the ''Call of Duty'' series, the game was developed by Sledgehammer Games for PlayStation 4, Windows and Xbox One ...

'' (2014), ''

WWII World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

'' (2017), and ''

Vanguard The vanguard (sometimes abbreviated to van and also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force. ...

'' (2021). They are also the lead developer for ''Modern Warfare III'' (2023), the third entry in the ''Modern Warfare'' reboot sub-series. , ''Call of Duty'' has sold over 500 million copies and has 100 million monthly active players across all platforms. The franchise generated $30 billion in revenue by 2022. The series is verified by the

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

as the best-selling first-person shooter game series. It is also the most successful video game franchise created in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and the third best-selling video game franchise of all time. Other products in the franchise include a line of

action figure An action figure is a poseable character model figure made most commonly of plastic, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, military, video game, television program, or sport; fictional or historical. These figures are usually ...

s designed by

Plan B Toys Plan B Toys Ltd. is a Groveport, Ohio–based toy company, founded in 1999 by Jay Borman, Chris Borman, and Tony Simione, former employees of ReSaurus Company, who founded it with the intention of freely creating new ideas and properties without ...

, a

card game A card game is any game that uses playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, whether the cards are of a traditional design or specifically created for the game (proprietary). Countless card games exist, including famil ...

created by

Upper Deck Company The Upper Deck Company, LLC (colloquially as Upper Deck and Upper Deck Authenticated, Ltd. in the UK) is a Privately held company, private company primarily known for producing trading cards. It was founded in 1988. Its headquarters are in Carls ...

, Mega Bloks sets by Mega Brands, and a

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

miniseries published by

WildStorm Productions Wildstorm Productions (stylized as WildStorm) is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi to publish through Image Comics, Wildstorm became a publishing imprint of DC ...

, and a feature film in development.

Main series

World War II games

''Call of Duty''

''Call of Duty'' is a first-person shooter video game based on

id Tech 3 id Tech 3, popularly known as the ''Quake III Arena'' engine, is a game engine developed by id Software for its 1999 game ''Quake III Arena''. It has subsequently been used in numerous games. Commercially, id Tech 3 competed with early version ...

, and was released on October 29, 2003. The game was developed by

and published by

. The game simulates the

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

and

combined arms Combined arms is an approach to warfare that seeks to integrate different combat arms of a military to achieve mutually complementary effects—for example, using infantry and armoured warfare, armour in an Urban warfare, urban environment in ...

warfare of

. An expansion pack, '' Call of Duty: United Offensive'', was developed by

Gray Matter Studios Gray Matter Interactive Studios, Inc. (Gray Matter Studios; formerly Xatrix Entertainment, Inc.) was an American video game developer based in Los Angeles. History Drew Markham and his business partner Barry Dempsey founded Xatrix Entertain ...

with contributions from

Pi Studios Pi Studios was a video game developer 2002 in video gaming, founded in 2002 by Robert Erwin, John Faulkenbury, Rob Heironimus, Dan Kramer and Peter Mack whose first commercial work can be found in Activision's ''Call of Duty: United Offensive''. ...

and produced by Activision. The game follows American and British paratroopers and the Red Army. The

Mac OS X macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

version of the game was ported by Aspyr Media. In late 2004, the

N-Gage The N-Gage is a mobile device combining features of a cellular phone and a handheld game system developed by Nokia, released on 7 October 2003. Officially nicknamed the ''game deck'', the N-Gage's phone works on the GSM cellular network, and s ...

version was developed by

Nokia Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, originally established as a pulp mill in 1 ...

and published by Activision. Other versions were released for PC, including Collector's Edition (with soundtrack and strategy guide), Game of the Year Edition (includes game updates), and the Deluxe Edition (which contains the ''United Offensive'' expansion and soundtrack; in Europe the soundtrack was not included). On September 22, 2006, ''Call of Duty'', ''United Offensive'', and ''Call of Duty 2'' were released together as ''Call of Duty: War Chest'' for PC. Since November 12, 2007, ''Call of Duty'' games have been available for purchase via

Valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or Slurry, slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically Pip ...

's content delivery platform

Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

''Call of Duty 2''

''Call of Duty 2'' is a first-person shooter video game and the sequel to ''Call of Duty''. It was developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision. The game is set during World War II and is experienced through the perspectives of soldiers in the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

, and

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. It was released on October 25, 2005, for

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

, November 15, 2005, for the

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...

, and June 13, 2006, for Mac OS X. Other versions were made for

mobile phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...

Pocket PC A Pocket PC (P/PC, PPC) is a class of personal digital assistant (PDA) that runs the Windows Mobile operating system, which is based on Windows Embedded Compact, Windows CE/Windows Embedded Compact, and that has some of the abilities of modern ...

s, and

smartphone A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...

''Call of Duty 3''

''Call of Duty 3'' is a first-person shooter and the third installment in the ''Call of Duty'' video game series. Released on November 7, 2006, the game was developed by

, and was the first major installment in the ''Call of Duty'' series not to be developed by Infinity Ward. It was also the first not to be released on the PC platform. It was released on the

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on ...

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...

, Xbox, and Xbox 360.

''Call of Duty: WWII''

''Call of Duty: WWII'' is the fourteenth game in the series and was developed by

. It was released worldwide on November 3, 2017, for Windows,

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

and

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...

. The game is set in the

European theatre The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main theatres of combat during World War II, taking place from September 1939 to May 1945. The Allied powers (including the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union and Franc ...

, and is centered around a squad in the 1st Infantry Division, following their battles on the Western Front, and set mainly in the historical events of

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The ope ...

''Call of Duty: Vanguard''

''Call of Duty: Vanguard'' is the eighteenth game in the series and is developed by

, with

developing the game's Zombies mode. It was released on November 5, 2021, for PC,

PlayStation 5 The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North ...

, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. The story depicts the birth of special forces to face an emerging threat at the end of the war during various theaters of World War II.

''Modern Warfare'' series

''Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare''

''Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare'' is the fourth installment of the main series and was the first game in the Modern Warfare timeline. Developed by Infinity Ward, it is the first game in the series not to be set during World War II. The game was released for Windows, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 on November 7, 2007. Download and retail versions for Mac OS X were released by

Aspyr Aspyr Media, Inc. (pronounced " aspire") is an American video game developer and publisher founded by Michael Rogers and Ted Staloch in Austin, Texas. Originally founded to port gaming titles to macOS, the company, since 2005, has become a publi ...

in September 2008. As of May 2009, ''Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare'' has sold over 13 million copies.

=''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered''

= ''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered'' is a remastered version of '' Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare'' that was released alongside the Legacy Edition, Legacy Pro Edition and Digital Deluxe Edition of '' Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare'' on November 4, 2016, for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. It was later released standalone on June 27, 2017, for PS4, and July 27, 2017, for Xbox One and PC. The game was developed by

and executive produced by Infinity Ward.

''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2''

''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2'' is the sixth installment of the main series, and the second game in the Modern Warfare timeline. It was developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision.

Activision Blizzard Activision Blizzard, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in Santa Monica, California. Activision Blizzard currently includes three operating units: Activision, Blizzard Entertainment and King (company), King. Founded in July 2 ...

announced ''Modern Warfare 2'' on February 11, 2009. The game was released worldwide on November 10, 2009, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows. A Nintendo DS iteration of the game, titled '' Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Mobilized'', was released alongside the game and the Wii port of ''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare''. ''Modern Warfare 2'' is the direct sequel to ''Call of Duty 4'' and continues the same storyline, taking place five years after the first game and featuring several returning characters including

Captain Price Captain John Price is a character from the ''Call of Duty'' series of video games published by Activision. First appearing in ''Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare'' (2007) as Captain of the 22nd Special Air Service, SAS Regiment, he later joins the in ...

and "Soap" MacTavish.

=''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered''

= A visually updated version of the original, it was released for PlayStation 4 on March 31, 2020, and for Xbox One and Windows on April 30, 2020. It only includes the campaign mode with no multiplayer and Spec Ops components. When purchased, players can unlock various cosmetic items in 2019's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and 2020's Call of Duty: Warzone.

''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3''

''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3'' is the eighth installment of the main series and the third installment of the ''Modern Warfare'' arc. Due to a legal dispute between the game's publisher Activision and the former co-executives of Infinity Ward – which caused several lay-offs and departures within the company – Sledgehammer Games assisted in the development of the game, while Raven Software was brought in to make cosmetic changes to the menus of the game. The game was said to have been in development since only two weeks after the release of ''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2''. Sledgehammer was aiming for a "bug free" first outing in the ''Call of Duty'' franchise, and had also set a goal for

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

review scores above 95 percent. The game continues the story from the point at which it ended in the '' Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2'' and continues the fictional battle story between the United States and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, which evolves into the

Third World War World War III, also known as the Third World War, is a hypothetical future global conflict subsequent to World War I (1914–1918) and World War II (1939–1945). It is widely predicted that such a war would involve all of the great powers, l ...

between

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

allied nations and ultra-nationalist Russia.

''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare''

''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare'' is the sixteenth entry in the ''Call of Duty'' series and is also a

reboot In computing, rebooting is the process by which a running computer system is restarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reboots can be either a cold reboot (alternatively known as a hard reboot) in which the power to the system is physi ...

of the ''Modern Warfare'' sub-series. The story has been described to be darker and more realistic than previous ''Call of Duty'' games. It is set in the ''Black Ops'' timeline, separate from the other ''Modern Warfare'' games (however, characters such as Captain Price and other fan favorites from the series make a return). The game was officially revealed on May 30, 2019, and released on October 25, 2019. The second main battle royale installment in the ''Call of Duty'' franchise, titled '' Call of Duty: Warzone,'' was released in March 2020, as a part of the ''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare'' video game but does not require purchase of it. The title exceeded 50 million players in the first month after release.

''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II''

Activision confirmed a sequel to the 2019 ''Modern Warfare'' game on February 11, 2022, to be developed by Infinity Ward. The game's logo and title was revealed on April 28, 2022. During Activision's 'Call of Duty NEXT' broadcast on September 15, 2022, the game's multiplayer was fully revealed, along with details on the next version of ''Warzone'' and a mobile version of ''Warzone'', both set to launch slightly after ''Modern Warfare II'''s launch. ''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II'' was released on October 28, with Campaign Early Access for pre-orders on October 20.

''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III''

''Black Ops'' story arc

''Call of Duty: World at War''

''Call of Duty: World at War'', developed by Treyarch, is the fifth installment of the main series. Released after ''Modern Warfare'', it returns to the World War II setting of earlier titles, featuring the

Pacific theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

and Eastern front. The game uses the same proprietary game engine as ''Call of Duty 4'' and was released for the PC, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360 consoles and the

Nintendo DS The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...

handheld in North America on November 11, 2008, and November 14, 2008, in Europe. As of June 2009, ''Call of Duty: World at War'' has sold over 11 million copies. It acts as a prologue for Treyarch's next game, ''Black Ops'', which is in the same universe, sharing characters and story references.

''Call of Duty: Black Ops''

''Call of Duty: Black Ops'' is the seventh installment in the series, the third developed by Treyarch and was published by Activision for release on November 9, 2010. It is the first game in the series to take place during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

and also takes place partially in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. It was initially available for Windows, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 and was later released for the

as well as the Nintendo DS.

''Call of Duty: Black Ops II''

''Call of Duty: Black Ops II'' is the ninth main installment in the series, developed by Treyarch and published by Activision. The game was revealed on May 1, 2012. It was the first game in the series to feature future warfare technology, and the campaign features multiple branching storylines driven by player choice and multiple endings. It was later released on November 13, 2012.

''Call of Duty: Black Ops III''

''Call of Duty: Black Ops III'' is the twelfth main installment in the series, developed by Treyarch and published by Activision. The game was released on November 6, 2015.

''Call of Duty: Black Ops 4''

''Call of Duty: Black Ops 4'' is the fifteenth main installment in the series. It was developed by Treyarch and published by Activision. The game was released on October 12, 2018. It was the first featured ''Call of Duty'' game to forgo a

single-player A single-player video game is a video game where input from only one player is expected throughout the gameplay. Video games in general can feature several game modes, including single-player modes designed to be played by a single player in add ...

campaign game mode, focusing only on the multiplayer aspect of the game. The game also introduced an entirely new battle royale game mode, called ''Blackout'', in addition to multiplayer and zombies co-op mode.

''Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War''

''Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War'' is the seventeenth main installment in the series. It was developed by Treyarch and

, and published by Activision. The game was released on November 13, 2020. Set during the 1980s and focusing on Soviet and American espionage during the Cold War, the game is chronologically set between ''Call of Duty: Black Ops'' and ''Black Ops II''.

''Call of Duty: Black Ops 6''

''Call of Duty: Black Ops 6'' is the 21st major work in the series. It was developed by

and

and released by Activision on October 25, 2024.

''Call of Duty: Black Ops 7''

''Call of Duty: Black Ops 7'' is the 22nd major work in the series. It is set to be developed by

as well as potentially

and was first revealed through a teaser trailer on June 8, 2025.

Standalone games

''Call of Duty: Ghosts''

''Call of Duty: Ghosts'' is the tenth main installment in the series and was developed by Infinity Ward. The game was released on November 5, 2013. It was the first game to be developed for eighth-gen consoles such as PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

''Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare''

''Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare'' is the eleventh main installment in the series, developed by Sledgehammer Games with assistance from Raven Software and

High Moon Studios High Moon Studios, Inc. (formerly Sammy Entertainment Inc. and Sammy Studios, Inc.) is an American video game developer initially formed in 2001. After nearly a year as an independent studio, the developer was acquired by Vivendi Games in Janua ...

. It was released on November 4, 2014. The game was the first game in the series to feature advanced movements, such as double jump and boost slide.

''Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare''

''Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare'' is the thirteenth main installment in the series, developed by Infinity Ward, and was published by Activision. The game was released on November 4, 2016.

Primary developer rotation

In 2006, Treyarch released ''Call of Duty 3'', their first ''Call of Duty'' game of the main series. Treyarch and Infinity Ward signed a contract stating that the producer of each upcoming title in the series would alternate between the two companies. In 2010, Sledgehammer Games announced they were working on a main series title for the franchise. This game was postponed to help Infinity Ward produce ''Modern Warfare 3''. In 2014, it was confirmed that Sledgehammer Games would produce the 2014 title, ''Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare'', and the studios would begin a three-year rotation. After Sledgehammer developed ''Call of Duty: WWII'' (2017), they began developing a new ''Call of Duty'' entry alongside

due for release in 2020. However, there were conflicts of interest between the two, which resulted in Treyarch taking over control of the project to speed up the development process.

Free-to-play games

''Call of Duty Online''

''Call of Duty Online'' was announced by

when the company first stated their interest in a

Massively multiplayer online game A massively multiplayer online game (MMOG or more commonly MMO) is an online video game with a large number of players to interact in the same online game world. MMOs usually feature a huge, persistent world, persistent open world, although t ...

(MMO) in early 2011. By then, it had been in development for two years. ''Call of Duty Online'' is

free-to-play "Free-to-play" ("F2P" or "FtP") video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content for free. The term "free-to-play business model" or simply, "free-to-play model", refers collectively to business models tha ...

for mainland China and is hosted by

Tencent Tencent Holdings Ltd. ( zh, s=腾讯, p=Téngxùn) is a Chinese Multinational corporation, multinational technology Conglomerate (company), conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimed ...

, since Activision had lost the publishing rights to ''Call of Duty'' and several other franchises in China due to a legal dispute on most of the gaming consoles (

, and

''Call of Duty: Heroes''

''Call of Duty: Heroes'' was a real-time strategy game developed by Faceroll Games and published by Activision for Android and iOS.

''Call of Duty: Mobile''

''Call of Duty: Mobile'' is the franchise's mobile title for iOS and Android developed by

Games'

TiMi Studios TiMi Studio Group ( zh, s=天美工作室群, p=Tiānměi Gōngzuò Shìqún) is a Chinese video game developer based in Shenzhen. A subsidiary of Tencent Games, it operates branches in Singapore, Montréal, Seattle, Los Angeles, Chengdu, and Sh ...

. It was released on October 1, 2019. Previously, it was first announced on March 18, 2019, at the year's

Game Developers Conference The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual conference for video game developers. The event includes an expo, networking events, and awards shows like the Game Developers Choice Award for Game of the Year, Game Developers Choice Awards and ...

. As of October 4, 2019, the game has surpassed over 35 million downloads worldwide.

''Call of Duty: Warzone'' (2020)

''Call of Duty: Warzone'' is an online battle royale game developed by Infinity Ward and Raven Software and released by Activision. The game was released on March 10, 2020, as part of ''Modern Warfare (2019)'', but can be downloaded without ownership of the former title. The game shares progression with, and uses gameplay items from ''Modern Warfare'', as well as ''Black Ops Cold War'' and ''Vanguard'' following several integration updates to incorporate content from these titles. Activision has announced that a mobile version of ''Warzone'' was in development, slated to be released sometime in the future.

''Call of Duty: Warzone'' (2022)

A successor to ''Warzone'', initially titled ''Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0'', also developed by Infinity Ward and Raven Software, was released on November 16, 2022, as part of a content update for ''Modern Warfare II''. Following its fourth seasonal update, ''Warzone 2.0'' was renamed to simply ''Warzone''. Like the previous iteration, ''Warzone'' (2022) is available for separate download without requiring ownership of ''Modern Warfare II'', and was subsequently integrated with gameplay items and progression from ''Modern Warfare III''. In addition to sharing progression with the aforementioned titles, the game is also linked to ''Warzone Mobile'', a standalone mobile game that incorporates ''Modern Warfare II'' and ''Modern Warfare III'' gameplay items while played on separate maps and game modes.

''Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile''

''Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile'' is a mobile battle royale game developed by Activision Shanghai, Beenox, Digital Legends Entertainment, and Solid State Studios, in partnership with other Activision studios. The game has cross-progression with ''Modern Warfare II'', ''Modern Warfare III'' and ''Warzone 2.0'' and uses their gameplay items but does not support cross-platform play with the aforementioned titles. The game was released on November 30, 2022, in Australia and March 24, 2023 in Chile, Norway and Sweden, as part of a "Limited Release" phase, with the first map being a ported version of Verdansk, which first appeared in the original ''Warzone''. The game was officially released for

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

and Android devices on March 21, 2024.

Spin-off games

Console titles

''Call of Duty: Finest Hour''

''Call of Duty: Finest Hour'' is the first console installment of ''Call of Duty'' and was released on the

GameCube The is a PowerPC-based home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, in Europe on May 3, 2002, and in Australia on May 17, 2002. It is the suc ...

, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. The PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions of the game include an

online multiplayer A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...

mode which supports up to 32 players. It also includes new game modes.

''Call of Duty 2: Big Red One''

''Call of Duty 2: Big Red One'' is a spin-off of ''

'' developed by Treyarch and based on the American 1st Infantry Division's exploits during World War II. The game was released on GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox.

''Call of Duty: World at War – Final Fronts''

''Call of Duty: World at War – Final Fronts'' is the PlayStation 2 adaptation of ''Call of Duty: World at War''. Developed by

Rebellion Developments Rebellion Developments Limited is a British video game developer based in Oxford. Founded by Jason Kingsley (businessman), Jason and Chris Kingsley in December 1992, the company is best known for ''Sniper Elite'' and multiple games in the ''Lis ...

, ''Final Fronts'' features three campaigns involving the U.S. fighting in the

, the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive or Unternehmen Die Wacht am Rhein, Wacht am Rhein, was the last major German Offensive (military), offensive Military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western ...

, and the British advancing on the Rhine River into Germany.

Handheld titles

''Call of Duty (for N-Gage)''

''Call of Duty'' is a N-Gage game which is a portable spin-off of 2003's ''Call of Duty''.

''Call of Duty: Roads to Victory''

''Call of Duty: Roads to Victory'' is a PSP game which is a portable spin-off of ''Call of Duty 3''.

''Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (for Nintendo DS)''

''Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare'' is the Nintendo DS companion game for 2007's ''

''.

''Call of Duty: World at War (for Nintendo DS)''

''Call of Duty: World at War'' is the Nintendo DS companion game for '' World at War''.

''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Mobilized''

''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Mobilized'' is the Nintendo DS companion game for '' Modern Warfare 2''. Developed by n-Space, the game takes place in the same setting as the main console game but follows a different storyline and cast of characters. Playing as the S.A.S. and the Marines in campaign mode, both forces are trying to find a nuclear bomb.

''Call of Duty: Black Ops (for Nintendo DS)''

''Call of Duty: Black Ops'' is the Nintendo DS companion game for ''

''. Developed by n-Space, the game takes place in the same setting as the main console game, but follows a different storyline and cast of characters.

''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 – Defiance''

''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 – Defiance'' is the Nintendo DS companion game for '' Modern Warfare 3''.

''Call of Duty: Black Ops: Declassified''

''Call of Duty: Black Ops: Declassified'' is a

PlayStation Vita The PlayStation Vita (PS Vita) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 17, 2011, then in other international territories on February 22, 2012, and was produced ...

''Call of Duty'' game.

Mobile titles

''Call of Duty (for Mobile)''

''Call of Duty'' is the J2ME mobile spin-off of 2003's ''Call of Duty''.

''Call of Duty 2 (for Mobile)''

''Call of Duty 2'' is the J2ME mobile spin-off of ''Call of Duty 2''.

''Call of Duty 3 (for Mobile)''

''Call of Duty 3'' is the J2ME mobile spin-off of ''Call of Duty 3''.

''Call of Duty 2 Pocket PC Edition''

''Call of Duty 2 Pocket PC Edition'' is the Windows Mobile spin-off of ''Call of Duty 2''.

''Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (for Mobile)''

''Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare'' is the J2ME mobile spin-off of 2007's ''Modern Warfare''.

''Call of Duty: World at War (for Mobile)''

''Call of Duty: World at War'' is the J2ME mobile spin-off of ''World at War''.

''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2: Force Recon''

''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2: Force Recon'' is the J2ME mobile spin-off of ''Modern Warfare 2''. Developed by

Glu Mobile Glu Mobile LLC is an American developer and publisher of mobile games. It was founded as Sorrent in 2001 and acquired Macrospace in 2004. Both companies collectively rebranded as Glu Mobile in 2005. In April 2021, the company was acquired by E ...

, the game takes place in Mexico five years after ''Modern Warfare''.

''Call of Duty: World at War – Zombies''

''Call of Duty: World at War – Zombies'' is a first-person shooter video game developed by Ideaworks Game Studio and published by Activision for

. It is a

spin-off Spin-off, Spin Off, Spin-Off, or Spinoff may refer to: Entertainment and media *Spinoff (media), a media work derived from an existing work *''The Spinoff'', a New Zealand current affairs magazine * ''Spin Off'' (Canadian game show), a 2013 Canad ...

of the ''Call of Duty'' series and based on the "Nazi Zombies" mode of '' Call of Duty: World at War''.

''Call of Duty: Black Ops Mobile''

''Call of Duty: Black Ops Mobile'' is the J2ME mobile spin-off of ''Black Ops''.

''Call of Duty: Black Ops – Zombies''

''Call of Duty: Black Ops – Zombies'' is a first-person shooter video game developed by Ideaworks Game Studio and published by Activision for Android and iOS. It is a sequel to ''Call of Duty: World at War – Zombies''.

''Call of Duty: Strike Team''

''Call of Duty: Strike Team'' is a first and third-person shooter game developed by The Blast Furnace and published by Activision for iOS and Android. The game is set in 2020 with players tasked with leading a U.S. Joint Special Operations Team after the country "finds themselves in a war with an unknown enemy".

Compilations

''Call of Duty: The War Collection''

''Call of Duty: The War Collection'' is a boxed set compilation of ''Call of Duty 2'', ''Call of Duty 3'' and ''Call of Duty: World at War''. It was released for the Xbox 360 on June 1, 2010.

Canceled titles

''Call of Duty: Combined Forces''

''Call of Duty: Combined Forces'' was a proposed concept draft originally intended to be a sequel to '' Call of Duty: Finest Hour''. However, due to multiple legal issues that arose between

Spark Unlimited Spark Unlimited, based in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, was a video game developer founded by former developers from the ''Medal of Honor'' video game franchise. The studio's first game was '' Call of Duty: Finest Hour'' in 2004. Its last game was ...

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry ...

, and

as well as other production problems, the game's draft and scripts never came to be. The game was projected to cost $10.5 million to produce after ''Finest Hour'' was complete. Eventually, Activision deemed the pitch as more of an expansion than something entirely new, causing the company to reject the proposal and end their contract with Spark Unlimited shortly after.

''Call of Duty: Devil's Brigade''

''Call of Duty: Devil's Brigade'' was a canceled first-person shooter for the

developed by Underground Entertainment. The game was set in World War II, mainly focusing on the Italian Campaign.

''Call of Duty: Future Warfare / NX1''

In 2010, after the fracturing of

and departure of Jason West and Vince Zampella, studio

Neversoft Neversoft Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Woodland Hills, California. The studio was founded by Joel Jewett, Mick West and Chris Ward in July 1994 and was acquired by Activision in October 1999. Initially, the st ...

was tasked by Activision to develop a sci-fi spinoff in the ''Call of Duty'' franchise, experimenting with low-gravity gameplay and other aspects of the engine. At an unknown point in time, the project was scrapped, and assets were reused in ''Ghosts'' and ''Infinite Warfare''. Footage of the project (known as ''Future Warfare'') was leaked online in January 2024, revealing a complete opening mission, and an in-development multiplayer that was still reusing assets from 2009's ''Modern Warfare 2''. After the leaks, former Neversoft developer Brian Bright came along and confirmed the leaks, stating that the game had two or three complete missions, and a large amount of multiplayer work done. He also referred to the project as "''NX1''", and that the game was meant to release in 2013 in place of ''Ghosts''.

''Call of Duty: Vietnam''

''Call of Duty: Vietnam'' was a

third-person shooter Third-person shooter (TPS) is a subgenre of 3D shooter games in which the gameplay consists primarily of shooting. It is closely related to first-person shooters, but with the player character visible on-screen during play. While 2D shoot 'em ...

set during the

. It was in development for at least six to eight months at

. The development was stopped because Infinity Ward needed help finishing '' Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3'' due to the employee firings and departures in 2010.

''Call of Duty: Roman Wars''

''Call of Duty: Roman Wars'' was a canceled third and first-person video game in the ''Call of Duty'' franchise developed by

Vicarious Visions Blizzard Albany (formerly Vicarious Visions, Inc.) is an American video game development division of Blizzard Entertainment based in Albany, New York. Founded in 1991, the company was acquired by Activision in January 2005. In January 2021, Vica ...

. The game was set in

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

, and allowed players to take control of famous historical figure

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

, along with "low grunts", and officers of the Tenth Legion. It was eventually canceled, as

had uncertainties about branding it as a ''Call of Duty'' title.

Untitled ''Call of Duty'' Zombies game

Between 2012 and 2013,

was developing a stand-alone ''Call of Duty'' Zombies game, after

's internal decision to move from the traditional ''Black Ops Zombies'' mode and focusing on the single-player and multiplayer aspects of their next game, '' Call of Duty: Black Ops III'' (2015). Designed to be a

arena, the game was taking inspirations from the ''

Mad Max ''Mad Max'' is an Australian media franchise created by George Miller and Byron Kennedy. It centres on a series of post-apocalyptic and dystopian action films. The franchise began in 1979 with '' Mad Max'', and was followed by three sequels: ...

'' movies. Former Raven's lead designer Michael Gulmmelt came along and confirmed the leaks in April 2024, and revealed that Raven canceled the project after Treyarch move back on the production of ''Black Ops Zombies'' and decided that Raven's game would create an internal competition.

Other media

Comic books

'' Modern Warfare 2: Ghost'' is a six-part comic book mini-series based on ''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2''. The storyline focuses on the backstory of the character

Simon "Ghost" Riley ''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2'' is a 2009 First-person shooter, first-person shooter game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision. It is the sixth installment in the Call of Duty, ''Call of Duty'' series and the direct seque ...

. The series is published by

WildStorm Wildstorm Productions (stylized as WildStorm) is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi to publish through Image Comics, Wildstorm became a publishing imprint of DC C ...

and the first issue was released on November 10, 2009, alongside the game. ''Call of Duty: Zombies'' is a six-part comic book series published by

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, manga and Artist's book, art book publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon, by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, O ...

. The series ties in with the Zombies game mode of the ''Black Ops'' subseries developed by

. The series is co-written by Justin Jordan, Treyarch's Jason Blundell and Craig Houston. The series is illustrated by artist Jonathan Wayshak and colorist Dan Jackson. The cover arts are handled by artist

Simon Bisley Simon Bisley is a British comic book artist best known for his 1990s in comics, 1990s work on ''ABC Warriors'', ''Lobo (DC Comics), Lobo'' and ''Sláine (comics), Sláine''. Early life Simon Bisley began drawing when he was six years old. He is ...

. The series was announced by Treyarch in July 2016, with the first issue slated for release in October. After a slight delay, the first issue was released on October 26, 2016. The five other issues were released in the months of 2017: issue #2 released on January 11, 2017; issue #3 released on March 1, 2017; issue #4 released on April 19, 2017; issue #5 released on June 21, 2017; and issue #6 released on August 23, 2017. A paperback edition containing all six issues was released on November 15, 2017.

Merchandise

In 2004,

, in cooperation with the companies Plan-B Toys and Radioactive Clown, released the "Call of Duty: Series 1" line of action figures, which included three American soldiers and three German soldiers from the World War II era. While the American G.I. action figure was made in 2004, Plan-B Toys later discontinued a controversial Nazi SS Guard action figure based on the Nazi Totenkopf officer seen in ''Call of Duty''. In 2008,

McFarlane Toys McFarlane Toys is an American company founded by comic book creator Todd McFarlane which makes highly detailed model action figures of characters from films, comics, popular music, video games and various sporting genres. The company, a subsidia ...

announced their partnership with Activision to produce action figures for the ''Call of Duty'' series. McFarlane Toys' first series of action figures were released in October 2008 and consists of four different figures: Marine with Flamethrower, Marine Infantry, British Special Ops, and Marine with Machine Gun.

Short films

''Find Makarov'' is a fan-made film that was well received by ''Call of Duty'' publishers, Activision, who contacted We Can Pretend and subsequently produced a second short film, ''Operation Kingfish''. '' Find Makarov: Operation Kingfish'' is a fan-made

prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term ...

to '' Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2'' and was first shown at Call of Duty XP. The video was produced by We Can Pretend, with visual effects by The Junction, and was endorsed by

. The video tells the story of how

ended up in a Russian

Gulag The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...

set before the events of ''Modern Warfare 2''.

Films

On November 6, 2015, upon the release of ''Black Ops III'', ''The Hollywood Reporter'' reported that Activision Blizzard launched a production studio called

Activision Blizzard Studios Activision Blizzard Studios, LLC was a motion picture production company and a subsidiary of American video game company Activision Blizzard based in Beverly Hills, California. It was created to utilize its parent company's popular game franchi ...

and are planning a live action ''Call of Duty'' cinematic universe in 2019. On February 16, 2018, it was announced that

Stefano Sollima Stefano Sollima (; born 4 May 1966) is an Italian director and screenwriter. He is best known for his gritty crime-drama films such as ''ACAB – All Cops Are Bastards'' (2012), ''Suburra'' (2015), and '' Sicario: Day of the Soldado'' (2018), as ...

will direct the film. Days later, he told Metro UK that he is considering having both Tom Hardy and

Chris Pine Christopher Whitelaw Pine (born August 26, 1980) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' reboot film series (2009–2016) and Steve Trevor in the DC Extended Universe films ''Wonder Woman'' ...

as the leads for the film. In an interview with FilmSlash, Sollima stated that the film will be a real soldier movie, not a war movie. On November 27, 2018, it was announced that

Joe Robert Cole Joe Robert Cole (born January 1, 1980) is an American filmmaker and actor. He is best known for his Emmy Award-nominated and Writers Guild of America Award-winning work on the first season of the true crime Anthology series, anthology television ...

will be writing the sequel. Filming on the first film was supposed to start filming in Spring 2019 for a 2020 or 2021 release. In February 2020, Sollima revealed in an interview that the film had been put on hold as it was not Activision's priority.

Esports

The ''Call of Duty'' games were used in

esports Esports (), short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, played individually or as teams. ...

, starting in 2006, alongside the game released at the time, '' Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare''. Over the years, the series has extended with releases such as '' Call of Duty: World at War'', '' Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2'', '' Call of Duty: Black Ops'', '' Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3'', '' Call of Duty: Black Ops II'', '' Call of Duty: Ghosts'', and '' Call of Duty: Mobile''. Games are played in leagues like

Major League Gaming Major League Gaming Corp. (MLG) was a professional esports organization based in New York City. Founded in 2002 by Sundance DiGiovanni and Mike Sepso, MLG held official video game tournaments throughout the United States and Canada. The ''Boos ...

. Players can compete in ladders or tournaments. The ladders are divided into several sub ladders such as the singles ladder, doubles ladder, team ladder (3v3 – 6v6) and hardcore team ladder (3v3 – 6v6). The difference between the regular team ladder and the hardcore team ladder is the in-game settings and thus a rule differentiation. Winning ladder matches on a competitive website rewards the user with experience points which add up to give them an overall rank. The tournaments offered on these websites provide players with the opportunity to win cash prizes and trophies. The trophies are registered and saved on the player's profile if/when they win a tournament, and the prize money is deposited into his or her bank account. ''Call of Duty: Ghosts'' was the most competitively played game in 2014, with an average of 15,000 teams participating every season. For the past 6 seasons in competitive ''Call of Duty'',

Full Sail University Full Sail University is a Private university, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit university in Winter Park, Florida. It was formerly a recording studio in Ohio named Full Sail Productions and Full Sail Center f ...

has hosted a prize giveaway, giving $2,500 to the top team each season. The other ladders give out credits and medals registered on players' profiles. Tournaments hosted on the ''Call of Duty: Ghosts''s Arena give cost from 15 to 30 credits, thus averaging at a cost of about $18.75 per tournament. If the player competes with a team, the prize money is divided, and an equal cut is given to each player. Other tournaments with substantial prizes are hosted in specific cities and countries for

LAN Lan or LAN may refer to: Science and technology * Local asymptotic normality, a fundamental property of regular models in statistics * Longitude of the ascending node, one of the orbital elements used to specify the orbit of an object in space * ...

teams. The biggest ''Call of Duty'' tournament hosted was Call of Duty: Experience 2011, a tournament that began when ''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3'' was released. Playing ''Call of Duty'' competitively is most popular in Europe and North America, with users who participate in tournaments and ladder matches daily. Activision launched a 12 team

Call of Duty League The Call of Duty League (CDL) is a professional esports league for the video game series ''Call of Duty'', produced by its publisher Activision. The Call of Duty League follows the model of the Overwatch League as well as other traditional Nort ...

, following a similar city-based franchise structure as the

Overwatch League The Overwatch League (OWL) was a professional esports league for the video game ''Overwatch'', produced by its developer, Blizzard Entertainment. From 2018 to 2023, the Overwatch League followed the model of other traditional North American prof ...

, in January 2020. The league's teams include those from

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

the Carolinas The Carolinas, also known simply as Carolina, are the U.S. states of North Carolina and South Carolina considered collectively. They are bordered by Virginia to the north, Tennessee to the west, and Georgia to the southwest. The Atlantic Ocean ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, and with two teams from Los Angeles, the

Los Angeles Thieves The Los Angeles Thieves or LA Thieves is an American professional Call of Duty League (CDL) team based in Los Angeles, California. It is owned by 100 Thieves. The Thieves won the 2022 world championship and have won four stage titles. History ...

and Los Angeles Guerrillas.

Call of Duty Endowment

The

Call of Duty Endowment (CODE) The Call of Duty Endowment (C.O.D.E.) is a 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation co-created by Bobby Kotick, the former CEO of Activision Blizzard, and James L. Jones, General James L. Jones, Jr., a retired United States Marine ...

is a nonprofit foundation created by Activision Blizzard to help find employment for U.S. military veterans. The first donation, consisting of $125,000, was presented to the

Paralyzed Veterans of America The Paralyzed Veterans of America was established in 1946 with the goal of serving the needs of disabled veterans. The organization was created to assist members, such as veterans of the armed forces living with spinal cord injuries or diseases l ...

. Co-chairman General James L. Jones is a former U.S. National Security Advisor. Founder Robert Kotick is the CEO of Activision Blizzard. Upon its founding in 2009, the organization announced a commitment to create thousands of career opportunities for veterans, including those returning from the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. Annual awards given by the endowment include the "Seal of Distinction", a $30,000 initial grant given to selected veteran's service organizations. In November 2014, the endowment launched the "Race to 1,000 Jobs" campaign to encourage gamers to donate money to and get involved in organizations that provide veterans with services. , the Call of Duty Endowment had provided around $12 million in grants to veterans' organizations in the United States, which has helped find jobs for 14,700 veterans. On March 30, 2010, CODE presented 3,000 copies of ''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2'', approximately $180,000 in value, to the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

. The copies were delivered to over 300 ships and submarines as well as Navy Morale, Welfare, and Recreation facilities worldwide.

Criticism, controversies, and legal matters

Accusations of stereotyping and Western bias

The ''Call of Duty'' series has been the subject of criticism for its "western-centric worldview, clumsy stereotyping and fetishisation of military power", according to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''s Keith Stuart. Writing for ''

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady, and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

'', Phil Hornshall said the series "usually comes off as pro-gun and pro-military at the very least, and even

jingoistic Jingoism is nationalism in the form of aggressive and proactive foreign policy, such as a country's advocacy for the use of threats or actual force, as opposed to peaceful relations, in efforts to safeguard what it perceives as its national inter ...

." Sam Biddle of ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' wrote that the series maintains "massive bipartisan appeal" owing to its "reactionary nature". He criticized Activision Blizzard's claim that the games were

apolitical Apoliticism is apathy or antipathy towards all political affiliations. A person may be described as apolitical if they are uninterested or uninvolved in politics. Being apolitical can also refer to situations in which people take an unbiased p ...

, writing they "now pushed so deeply into the territory of right-wing fantasy that it reaches a point of inadvertent parody". Similarly, ''

PC Gamer ''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games m ...

''s Tyler Wilde criticized marketing that ''Call of Duty: WWII'' was made from anti-war sentiment and that playing as a virtual soldier could increase empathy; he felt through the game's announcement trailer it instead glorified a "brutal but noble" conflict in a game series that was no deeper than an action drama. Others have faulted ''Call of Duty''s representation of

ethnic An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...

and

religious Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...

groups. ''

Kotaku ''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier. History ...

''s Alyssa Mercante, alongside several

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

and

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

members of the games industry, thought the series "historically dehumanize the aforementioned groups with harmful stereotypes and narratives. This included portraying the

as undesirable where "the line between truth and fiction can blur", and creating localized fictional regions in a way that "perpetuat sthe idea that there is a singular, Middle Eastern country". ''

Inverse Inverse or invert may refer to: Science and mathematics * Inverse (logic), a type of conditional sentence which is an immediate inference made from another conditional sentence * Additive inverse, the inverse of a number that, when added to the ...

''s Gregory Lawrence felt that ''Call of Duty'' avoided accusations of

Islamophobia Islamophobia is the irrational fear of, hostility towards, or hatred against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general. Islamophobia is primarily a form of religious or cultural bigotry; and people who harbour such sentiments often stereot ...

by including "good" Muslim characters, but without further exploring their morality. Writing for ''

The Progressive ''The Progressive'' is a left-leaning American magazine and website covering politics and culture. Founded in 1909 by U.S. senator Robert M. La Follette Sr. and co-edited with his wife Belle Case La Follette, it was originally called ''La Foll ...

'', Joe Mayall thought that the games' depiction of its antagonists as anti-Western was a "dangerous oversimplification", the same attitude of which had led to the United States' (US) participation in wars. A perceived strong Western bias in the series has been a point of criticism. ''TheGamer''s Tessa Kaur condemned its portrayal of war that she thought depicted U.S. soldiers as heroes while having "no moral quandary", being "distinctively pro- intervention", and "perpetuat ngfalse beliefs" about real-world conflicts. Kaur questioned if the games could ever move beyond glorifying the U.S. military to tell "impactful and honest stories about the cruelty of war". Mayall wrote ''Call of Duty'' "exaggerates the effectiveness and cleanliness of

militarism Militarism is the belief or the desire of a government or a people that a state should maintain a strong military capability and to use it aggressively to expand national interests and/or values. It may also imply the glorification of the mili ...

while understating the repercussions", leaving audiences with a heavily-skewed version of reality. He felt this did the most harm by portraying military intervention as the best form of

foreign policy Foreign policy, also known as external policy, is the set of strategies and actions a State (polity), state employs in its interactions with other states, unions, and international entities. It encompasses a wide range of objectives, includ ...

. Conversely, Lawrence thought that the series had a surprising indifference in presenting the U.S. military favorably; he cited the rebooted ''Modern Warfare'' sub-series involving player-characters serving "corrupt masters embedded in a corrupt operation run by more corrupt masters". Some have linked the sensed partiality with the

U.S. government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, executi ...

's military–entertainment complex. Kaur wrote ''Call of Duty'' was one example of entertainment media the authorities had exploited since

to promote certain narratives in their favor; Mayall noted

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...

had consulted on "more than a thousand movies and dozens of video games". Alan MacLeod, a writer on the subject of propaganda, suggested that ''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II'' was a "psychological operation" for the US. Affiliations between ''Call of Duty'' staff and the U.S. government have been felt to contribute to this. In an interview with ''The Guardian'', ''Call of Duty: Black Ops II'' writer Dave Anthony said how he was contacted by a former Pentagon official to join an expert panel to discuss the future of warfare. He consequently joined a Washington-based

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

that advises on the future of unknown conflicts and threats. Similarly, while plotting ''Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare'', Michael Condrey of Sledgehammer Games revealed the studio had consulted with a Pentagon advisor to discuss the likeliest future military threat to the US. Some wrote of how ''Call of Duty'' had also been used as a recruitment tool by the U.S. military. Kaur said they had once considered plans to grow its audience by paying ''Call of Duty'' streamers and organising

tournaments involving soldiers and streamers; they had backed out when reports of sexual harassment at Activision Blizzard were publicized.

Fallout with Infinity Ward leadership

As Infinity Ward's founders Jason West and Vince Zampella started new contract negotiations to continue developing the ''Call of Duty'' Activision around 2007, a number of legal issues arose between Infinity Ward and Activision. Ultimately, West and Zampella were forced out of Infinity Ward, later forming

Respawn Entertainment Respawn Entertainment, LLC is an American video game development studio founded in 2010 by Jason West and Vince Zampella and owned by Electronic Arts since 2017. West and Zampella previously co-founded Infinity Ward and created the ''Call of D ...

within

. West and Zampella, as well as several Infinity Ward staff that departed the studio alongside them to join Respawn, filed lawsuits against Activision related to unpaid royalties and bonuses.

No Russian

''Modern Warfare 2'' received significant controversy due to its inclusion of the level "

No Russian "No Russian" is the fourth mission of the 2009 video game '' Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2'' and its 2020 remaster. In the mission, the player controls Army Ranger PFC Joseph Allen, who - whilst undercover for the CIA with the alias Alexei B ...

", in which the player participates in a massacre of civilians at a Russian airport.

Trademark infringement claims by AM General

AM General AM General is an American heavy vehicle and contract manufacturer, contract automotive manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana. It is best known for the civilian Hummer H1, Hummer and the military Humvee that are assembled in Mishawaka, Indiana. ...

, the manufacturer of the

Humvee The High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV; colloquial: Humvee) is a family of Military light utility vehicle, light, four-wheel drive Military vehicle#Military trucks, military trucks and utility vehicles produced by AM General. It ...

, sued Activision in 2017 for using the Humvee in multiple ''Call of Duty'' games. A federal district judge gave Activision a summary motion in its favor to dismiss the case in April 2020, stating that the purpose of the use of the Humvee in the games, to provide military realism, was quite different from the trademark purpose that AM General had established, for selling to the military.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Call Of Duty Activision Blizzard franchises Tencent Video game franchises introduced in 2003 Video game franchises Video games adapted into comics Microsoft franchises