Call of Duty by Year in Order
Activision has been releasing first-person shooters every year for more than 20 years, and Call of Duty is a well-known brand. The majority of Call of Duty games have been significant fall releases on various platforms, however some of the franchise's entries were obscure and platform-specific.
World War II and authenticity as a military shooter were the main themes of the first several Call of Duty games, but as the brand has developed over time, it has become more complicated and frequently deviates from a mil-sim aesthetic. Third game modes, robots, spaceships, jetpacks, and occasionally surreal fictional campaigns have all been added to Call of Duty, which has moved away from its original military roots and into sci-fi and fantasy.
The first Call of Duty game was developed by Infinity Ward, but today's current games are a collaborative effort across multiple Call of Duty studios: Treyarch, Raven Software, Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games, Beenox, Demonware, High Moon Studios, and more.
Below we list all of the Call of Duty games in order of release.
The Call of Duty
Originally published in 2003 as a PC game, the first Call of Duty was later improved and released globally in November 2009 under the title Call of Duty: Classic by a different studio.
Call of Duty, created by Infinity Ward, placed players in the roles of three World War II infantrymen. The player was paired with AI-teammates for missions involving American, British, and Soviet soldiers in this squad-based single-player game.
Call of Duty: Finest Hour
Spark Unlimited created Call of Duty: Finest Hour for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox in 2004. The first Call of Duty game made especially for consoles was this one. Based on the 2003 Call of Duty campaign, The Finest Hour was a game that was more of a side-story to the original and had a separate World War II plot.
Call of Duty 2
Infinity Ward made a comeback to create the game in 2005, which was made available for PC and Xbox 360. The campaign offered the viewpoints of four Allied soldiers, while the sequel stayed in the World War II context. This comprises two soldiers from the British Army, a member of the Red Army, and a soldier from the United States Army.
The first game created by Treyarch was the second Call of Duty game, which came out in 2005. The GameCube, Xbox One, and PS 2 all supported COD 2: Big Red One.
In contrast to the earlier Call of Duty campaigns, Big Red One only had one protagonist, with the plot centering on a single soldier from the American 1st Infantry Division. This was another first-person military shooter set during World War II. Known as the "Big Red One" in the past, this division rose to prominence as the most well-known U.S. Army structure during World War II. The division's involvement in North Africa, the invasion of Sicily, the storming of the Normandy beaches on D-Day, and ultimately the advance into Germany were all covered in the campaign tasks.
Call of Duty 3
Treyarch also developed 2006's Call of Duty 3, and it was released for PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii. This sequel kept Call of Duty rooted in World War II, but instead of featuring a campaign that focused on several parts of the war, Treyarch centered the game on the 1944 Battle of Normandy. Call of Duty 3 introduced the series to QTEs (quick-time-events) and featured more close-quarters combat than the previous games.
Call of Duty: Roads to Victory
Call of Duty: Roads to Victory released in early 2007. This was a Call of Duty title developed by Amaze Entertainment, and it was specifically made for Sony's PlayStation Portable handheld. This was the only Call of Duty ever made for the PSP, and like all the Call of Duty games before it, focused on the stories of World War II. The story included American, Canadian, and British campaign missions.
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Infinity Ward, the original developer of Call of Duty, came back to work on Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare in 2007. With this release, Call of Duty was completely removed from the World War II cycle, and the franchise's first modern setting was introduced in the fourth major installment. The single-player campaign of the award-winning game Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare let players switch between the viewpoints of the British S.A.S. and the U.S. Marines in a contemporary fight against a rogue enemy faction that threatened the entire world. Additionally, this campaign introduced Captain Price, "Soap" MacTavish, and Gaz—iconic characters that would go on to become household names in the franchise.
A remastered version of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was later developed by Raven Software and titled Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered. This version was released as part of special edition bundles of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare in 2016 and as a standalone version became available in 2017.
Call of Duty: World at War
Despite the previous year's modern setting being an award-winning hit, 2008's Call of Duty: World at War pulled the franchise back into the World War II era. Developed by Treyarch, Call of Duty: World at War was available for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, and Wii. This was the first Call of Duty to feature a cooperative campaign, and it could be played split-screen or online co-op.
Call of Duty: World at War's campaign focused on the Pacific and Eastern Front theaters of World War II, with missions featuring the perspectives of US Marine Private C. Miller and the Soviet Red Army's Private Dimitri Petrenko. The story is a prequel for what would become Treyarch's popular Call of Duty: Black Ops series.
World at War is also notable for being the introduction of Call of Duty's Zombies mode. Originally, players needed to beat the final campaign mission to unlock the Zombies mode with the Nacht der Untoten map. Post-launch DLC packs added additional Zombies maps, and eventually players no longer needed to beat the campaign to unlock access to the mode.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Infinity Ward returned the franchise to a modern setting with 2009's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. It was released for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. The game's campaign followed Task Force 141, a new multinational special forces unit commanded by Modern Warfare's Captain "Soap" MacTavish. Captain Price also returned, and the new task force introduced one of Call of Duty's most beloved and recognizable characters of the franchise with Simon "Ghost" Riley, who wears the iconic ghost face mask.
The campaign features one of Call of Duty's most infamous antagonists, Vladimir Makarov. The game also created a lot of controversy, as Modern Warfare 2 contained a campaign mission where the player participated in Makarov's extreme terrorist attack on an airport.
Additionally, it's worth noting that Modern Warfare 2 also introduced a third game mode to Call of Duty with Spec Ops. MW2 Spec Ops mode featured twenty-three additional campaign-style missions that could be played individually or cooperatively with a teammate. Each mission had three tiers of difficulty. These Spec Ops missions gained enough praise and popularity to return the mode in later Call of Duty games.
Modern Warfare 2's campaign was remastered in 2020 by developer Beenox.
Call of Duty: Black Ops
The first entry of the popular Call of Duty: Black Ops series arrived in 2010. The game was developed by Treyarch for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, and Wii.
Even now, Call of Duty: Black Ops still stands out as one of the franchise's most mind-bending and mystery-driven storylines. The campaign was set in the 1960s during the Cold War, and it followed CIA operative Alex Mason as he attempted to recall specific memories. The story required the player to work through the missions to uncover the meaning of a mysterious set of numbers. Black Ops 1 also introduced some of the most iconic characters of the franchise, with Frank Woods and Jason Hudson assisting Mason throughout the campaign.
It's also worth noting that Treyarch's Zombies mode from World at War returned in Black Ops. The mode featured more complex maps and an in-depth storyline with Easter eggs for players to solve. Black Ops also introduced the first version of Treyarch's popular Dead Ops Arcade, which was an unlockable retro-style, twin-stick shooter variant of Zombies mode.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
In 2011, Call of Duty returned to a modern setting with the third installment of the Modern Warfare series. Modern Warfare 3's campaign was co-developed by Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games, and the game released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, and PC. The Modern Warfare 3 campaign picked up shortly after the events of Modern Warfare 2, with Task Force 141 on the hunt for the Russian terrorist, Vladimir Makarov.
Additionally, Modern Warfare 3 introduced a new third mode called Survival, which served as rounds of enemies similar to Treyarch's Zombies mode. Instead of the undead, players needed to survive waves of hostile soldiers.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2
Treyarch's Black Ops sequel released in 2012. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 originally launched on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. Shortly after, the game also launched for the Wii U.
Black Ops 2's campaign jumped between two different sets of characters and time periods. It focused on characters from the original game fighting in the 1980s as well as a new squad of characters led by the son of Alex Mason in 2025. Both time periods involved the pursuit of Raul Menendez. At this point, Black Ops 2 was Call of Duty's most futuristic campaign yet. It was also the first Call of Duty to feature branching storylines driven by player choice with the introduction of Strike Missions.
Additionally, Treyarch's Zombies mode returned. Black Ops 2 featured major changes for Zombies, with the introduction of a large-scale map, a new cast of characters, and the competitive Grief mode.
Black Ops: Declassified
Launching alongside Black Ops 2 in 2012, Black Ops: Declassified was released solely for Sony's PlayStation Vita portable. This handheld game was developed by nStigate Games, and it featured an all-new campaign of Spec Ops-style missions within the Black Ops universe. Unfortunately, the game was poorly reviewed and heavily criticized for graphics, poor controls design, and short campaign length.
Call of Duty: Ghosts
2013's Call of Duty: Ghosts was developed by Infinity Ward, and the game was originally released for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, and Wii U. The next generation of consoles arrived shortly after, and Call of Duty: Ghosts then launched for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Despite ending on a cliffhanger, Call of Duty: Ghosts has remained a standalone title in the franchise. The game took place in a future setting where the United States was a war-torn area with a weakened government. The game's main protagonists were the Ghosts, a force of U.S. Special Operations soldiers. The story centered around two brothers, their father, and a dog named Riley, who the player could instruct and use as a means of recon and stealth attacks on various missions.
Ghosts introduced a brand-new third game mode called Extinction. This was a 4-player co-op survival mode similar to Zombies, but the mode was themed around an alien invasion. Each map required players to survive hordes of alien creatures known as Cryptids and complete specific objectives in order to complete the match.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare arrived in 2014, and the game was developed by Sledgehammer Games for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, while High Moon Studios developed the past-gen versions released on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
Advanced Warfare propelled Call of Duty into the year 2054, and the game introduced the franchise's first use of advanced movement. The "Exo movement" was performed with the use of exoskeleton suits, which allowed the player to boost, dash, and boost jump. The story followed a soldier named Jack Mitchell, who joined a resistance fighting against a private military corporation that became a global threat.
This was also the first Call of Duty game to feature a Zombies mode not developed by Treyarch. Exo Zombies was a similar round-based experience, but it put the undead in Exo suits similar to the ones featured in the game's campaign.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3
Developed by Treyarch, 2015's Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Beenox developed a limited multiplayer-only version of the game for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
Black Ops 3 took the advanced movement of Advanced Warfare even further by adding full-on jetpacks to the game. The game's thruster pack allowed players to perform slow boosts into the air, as well as perform wall running and sliding actions while still able to fire their weapon in combat. The campaign was four-player co-op, and the story included cybernetic enhancements and one Call of Duty's most confusions and highly-theorized storylines of all time. Most of the battles in the game's missions didn't even happen in real life, as most of the story took place inside a trippy simulation.
Beating Black Ops 3's campaign unlocked a Nightmare mode, where the entire story could be experienced with the addition of zombies and Zombie-mode features. The game also featured a full Zombies mode experience with new maps.
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
2016's Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare was developed by Infinity Ward for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. This entry of the franchise took Call of Duty into the distant future with space colonies and a hostile faction risking war across the Solar System. Call of Duty fights took place in outer space and featured new gameplay mechanics in zero-gravity environments.
Infinite Warfare also featured a Zombies mode that wasn't developed by Treyarch. Infinity Ward's take on the mode included a more cartoony art style and paid homage to movie genres across various time periods.
Call of Duty: WW2
In 2017, the franchise stepped away from what was considered the "jetpack" era and returned to boots-on-the-ground gameplay with Call of Duty: WW2. The game was developed by Sledgehammer Games and released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
Taking Call of Duty back to its roots, WW2 centered around a squad in the US's 1st Infantry Division. The story followed their battles on the Western Front, and it mainly covered the historical events around D-Day. The game also included another Zombies mode by Sledgehammer Games, but this time the mode was geared more towards horror and gore with a Nazi Zombies theme.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
2018's Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 was developed by Treyarch for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. While it might be called Black Ops 4, the game actually goes back in time to serve as a prequel to Black Ops 3. It also gained a lot of criticism for being the only Call of Duty game in the entire franchise that didn't feature a campaign. Instead, the developer focused on multiplayer and introduced Call of Duty's first battle royale mode called Blackout.
Black Ops 4 also continued the trend of Treyarch's Zombies mode. The game launched with new maps, modes, and features. It also introduced a brand-new cast of characters for the game's "Chaos" storyline.
Call of Duty: Mobile
Developed by TiMi Studio Group, Call of Duty Mobile released in 2019 as a free-to-play mobile version for the franchise. Call of Duty Mobile doesn't feature a traditional campaign, and instead the game focuses on multiplayer, battle royale, and sometimes includes Zombies modes based around nostalgic maps, weapons, and operators from the main games. Despite being a few years old, the game still gets regular seasonal updates, major IP crossover events, and holds a consistent playerbase.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)
Infinity Ward rebooted its iconic Modern Warfare series in 2019 with a new version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. The game was released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, and the story centered around a rebooted version of the original cast, with the return of Captain Price, Soap MacTavish, and Gaz. It also introduced new characters who became notable in this new series, including Farah Karim, Alex Keller, and Kate Laswell. Together the cast worked to help the fictional country of Urzikstan hold off a Russian invasion.
Modern Warfare 2019 also included a return of MW2's Spec Ops mode, which featured co-op missions on the game's large-scale maps.
Call of Duty: Warzone
In March of 2020, developer Infinity Ward launched Call of Duty: Warzone battle royale. This game took inspiration from BO4's Blackout mode, but it streamlined the experience to make it feel like more of a fast-paced Call of Duty-style battle royale game. Warzone's Verdansk map featured POIs from Modern Warfare 2019, and it included the game's operators, weapons, and equipment. The battle royale's arrival felt perfectly timed, as it was released during the start of the pandemic, and it featured a free-to-play model that allowed everyone to squad up while they practiced social distancing.
Warzone has featured several maps and modes over the years. It remains Call of Duty's live service battle royale game, and each year since the game has been updated and integrated with Call of Duty's newest fall release. While Warzone doesn't have a story campaign of its own, it is often used to tell parts of Call of Duty's narrative through limited-time modes and special events.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
2020's Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War served as a direct sequel to the original Black Ops game from 2010. The game was developed by Treyarch and released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
The campaign was set against the backdrop of the early 1980s Cold War, and it often played like a mind-bending spy film. Fan-favorite Black Ops characters like Alex Mason and Frank Woods returned, and the story also introduced a popular new character to the series with CIA operative Russell Adler.
In true Treyarch fashion, Black Ops Cold War also featured a Zombies mode. The game included standard round-based maps as well as introduced the large-scale Outbreak mode.
Call of Duty: Vanguard
Call of Duty: Vanguard launched in 2021. The game was developed by Sledgehammer Games for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. The campaign was set during World War II, but the game took a different approach to Call of Duty's storytelling. Vanguard's campaign is more character-driven and told from the perspective of multiple different WWII soldiers in a non-linear order. These characters were eventually recruited to form Task Force Vanguard and stop a secret Nazi program.
The game also launched with Vanguard Zombies, which is Call of Duty's most heavily criticized Zombies' mode and didn't feature the standard round-based Zombies experience.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022)
Infinity Ward continued its reboot of the Modern Warfare series with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in 2022. The game was released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. The campaign served as a direct sequel to Modern Warfare 2019, and offered a new formation of the iconic Task Force 141 from the original series. Task Force 141 teamed up with a Mexican Special Forces unit as they attempted to track down a terrorist who had gained possession of American-made ballistic missiles.
Modern Warfare 2 included a Spec Ops co-op mode, and it introduced the DMZ extraction mode to Warzone.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023)
For the first time ever, Call of Duty received back-to-back Modern Warfare titles. 2023's Modern Warfare 3 reboot was developed by Sledgehammer Games for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. The story once again followed the beloved Task Force 141 as they tracked down the Russian terrorist, Vladimir Makarov, but the campaign was widely criticized for featuring open-world filler missions in between the standard story missions.
The game launched with an open-world Zombies mode developed by Treyarch, but instead of standard round-based Zombies, the mode featured an extraction-style game loop on Warzone's Urzikstan map.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 released in 2024, and the game was co-developed by Treyarch and Raven Software for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Black Ops 6 was themed as a 1990s spy-thriller that followed rogue CIA operatives Troy Marshall and Frank Woods as they assembled a team of agents to hunt down Pantheon, an international paramilitary terrorist organization. It also introduced the game's first rendition of Treyarch's advanced "ominmovement" system, which lets players walk, sprint, and dive in any direction.
Black Ops 6 also featured a full Zombies mode with the return of classic round-based maps created by Treyarch.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
For the first time ever, Call of Duty will receive back-to-back Black Ops games. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 launches on November 14, 2025, and the game is co-developed by Treyarch and Raven Software for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
The campaign features up to four-player co-op, and the story serves as a sequel to 2012's Black Ops 2. David Mason returns to lead an elite Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) team on a covert mission to Call of Duty's fictional city of Avalon. It's there they uncover a weapon engineered to turn fear into an instrument of war, which presents a global threat. Additionally, this is Call of Duty's first campaign to feature "end game" content, which adds a new cooperative experience on the map of Avalon.
The game also launches with the largest round-based Zombies map ever created, which is inspired by Black Ops 2's Tranzit map.
