Call of Duty

Lore & Background

The series originally focused on a World War II setting, with Infinity Ward developing Call of Duty (2003) and Call of Duty 2 (2005) and Treyarch developing Call of Duty 3 (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 was 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 in 2019, Modern Warfare II in 2022, and Modern Warfare III in 2023. Infinity Ward has developed two games outside of the Modern Warfare sub-series, Ghosts (2013) and Infinite Warfare (2016). Treyarch made one last World War II-based game, World at War (2008), before releasing Black Ops (2010) and subsequently creating the Black Ops sub-series. Six 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, with Black Ops Cold War co-developed by Raven Software. Sledgehammer Games, which were co-developers for Modern Warfare 3, have developed three titles, Advanced Warfare (2014), WWII (2017), and Vanguard (2021). They are the lead developer for Modern Warfare III (2023), the third entry in the Modern Warfare reboot sub-series.

In Their Own Story

The rain hammers the corrugated roof of a forward operating base outside a nameless city. Sergeant Miller checks his magazine one last time, the click sharp in the humid dark. Through the slit in the sandbag wall, the street is a river of headlight glare and distant shouting. He keys the radio: "All elements, stack up. We go in two minutes." The squad moves in silence, boots finding purchase on wet concrete, the world reduced to the orange glow of a night-vision scope and the soft breathing of six men who will not speak again until the dust settles. Somewhere ahead, a door will open. A flashbang will bloom. And the call—old, inherited, unspoken—will answer itself in the only way it ever has: forward, into the noise.

Reader's Guide

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 as the best-selling first-person shooter game series. It is the most successful video game franchise created in the United States and the fourth best-selling video game franchise of all time. Other products in the franchise include a line of action figures designed by Plan B Toys, a card game created by Upper Deck Company, Mega Bloks sets by Mega Brands, and a comic book miniseries published by WildStorm Productions, and a feature film in development by Paramount Pictures, set to be released in 2028.

Did You Know?

• Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was the first game in the series not set during World War II.
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered was developed by Raven Software and executive produced by Infinity Ward.
• Call of Duty: Vanguard depicts the birth of special forces to face an emerging threat at the end of World War II.
• As of the current knowledge cutoff, no future mainline Call of Duty games have been officially announced.