Call Of Duty Games In Order

You’d be hard-pressed to find a video game franchise that includes as many classic and iconic titles as it does controversial ones—but Call of Duty is precisely one such franchise.

When the first Call of Duty game came around, it was nothing short of revolutionary, and it redefined the FPS genre by moving away from the sci-fi themes and gameplay conventions that the genre was known for throughout the 90s and in the early 2000s.

And now, over 15 years later, it’s still going strong, boasting a total of 18 Call of Duty games—though, understandably, not all of them lived up to the same quality standards, nor were all of them as well received as others.

This list features all Call of Duty games ever made in the main series, as well as all spin-off titles.

Main Series

The original Call of Duty was quite different from other first-person shooters of its time, mainly because it was grounded in a more realistic setting and featured more realistic gameplay mechanics. Namely, it limited the player’s arsenal to only two weapons, removed all pickups aside from health and ammo, and it made the player less mobile, as well as more vulnerable to damage.

Mechanics aside, the setting itself was more realistic, too. In contrast to the sci-fi/fantasy-inspired worlds of many FPS games of that time, Call of Duty opted for a grittier World War II setting, putting the player in the shoes of three different soldiers throughout three single-player campaigns — an American, a British and a Soviet one.

Call of Duty was developed primarily for Windows but was also ported to OS X several months after its initial release. It also received an expansion titled Call of Duty: United Offensive in 2004, which focused mostly on multiplayer features. Finally, an improved version named Call of Duty Classic was released on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2009.

After the success of the original Call of Duty, Call of Duty 2 came about two years later, bringing some innovations of its own. The most prominent one was automatic health regeneration, something that would become a staple of many modern games. This new mechanic encouraged a riskier, faster-paced playstyle, as opposed to many other games that still featured health bars or health counters.

Like its predecessor, it featured three separate single-player campaigns, and apart from the regenerating health, the fundamentals of the gameplay were not changed much. However, the graphics were significantly improved compared to the original.

The game was released for Windows and for the Xbox 360, and it played a big part in the initial success of Microsoft’s second console. It was later ported to OS X, and the Xbox 360 version of the game is still playable on the Xbox One thanks to the console’s backward compatibility.

The third game in the series, Call of Duty 3, counts among the less remarkable entries in the series. It was the first Call of Duty game to be developed by Treyarch, and it introduced virtually no changes to the gameplay or the setting apart from the updated graphics.

One separate change introduced by Call of Duty 3 was the way it handled the single-player campaign — instead of having multiple separate campaigns, it featured a single campaign as viewed by four different protagonists. On top of that, it also included vehicles to the multiplayer mode for the first time.

Call of Duty 3 is also the only Call of Duty game not to be released on either the PC or the Mac, with all of its releases being limited to consoles: the PlayStations 2 and 3, the first Xbox and the Xbox 360, and even the Wii. Like its predecessor, Call of Duty 3 is still playable on the Xbox One today thanks to backward compatibility.

One of the most beloved entries in the series, Call of Duty 4 represented a big change for the franchise as a whole. After three consecutive games set in WW II, Modern Warfare was the first game to feature a modern setting.

Modern Warfare didn’t tamper much with the basic Call of Duty formula; still, it naturally added a plethora of modern weapons and gadgets that were absent from the previous games. Campaign-wise, it explores a series of conflicts set primarily in the Middle East and Russia, featuring both an American and a British protagonist.

When it comes to the multiplayer, it was the first game to feature leveling mechanics and a degree of playstyle customization through the perks system.

Call of Duty 4 was released on Windows, OS X, and all of the 7^th generation consoles, including the Nintendo DS. In addition to the Xbox 360 version being compatible with the Xbox One, a remastered version of the game was released for the Xbox One, the PS4 and Windows.

The second Call of Duty game developed by Treyarch, World at War went back to the World War II setting that defined the series up until the release of Modern Warfare. It did not change much in terms of either the single-player or the multiplayer, as it built upon the groundwork set by the previous games.

The single-player campaign missions revolve around the Pacific and Eastern Front, and they both feature more open levels than what we had seen in the series up to that point. As for the multiplayer, the game kept the mechanics introduced by Modern Warfare, although it did make one big addition: a zombie defense mode.

World at War ended up being released on the three main 7^th generation consoles (X360, PS3, Wii), the DS, and on Windows, although it never got an OS X port. Once again, the Xbox 360 version can be played on the Xbox One.

A direct sequel to 2007’s Modern Warfare, Modern Warfare 2 continues the story of its predecessor. Once again, it puts the player in the boots of a British SAS operative and an American soldier, all the while retaining the bulk of the multiplayer mechanics of the first Modern Warfare.

A significant addition was the “Spec Ops” mode, a series of separate missions that could be undertaken solo or co-operatively with another player. Apart from that, it made no new major additions or changes, although it did cause one of the more memorable gaming controversies.

Initially, Modern Warfare 2 only launched for the PlayStation 3, the Xbox 360 and Windows. It was only ported to OS X five years after the initial release, and it also remains the only Call of Duty game not playable on the Xbox One via backward compatibility.

After four World War II games, it was time to move on for Treyarch as well. Black Ops was thus born, a game focusing on fictional events taking place during the Cold War era. As befits the setting, it focuses less on war itself and more on the machinations and secret operations that take place behind the scenes.

There were no huge gameplay alterations introduced, although Black Ops is the first Call of Duty game to feature not only a single protagonist, but a talking protagonist, in contrast to the silent protagonists of the previous games.

Multiplayer-wise, it simply builds off the mechanics established by Modern Warfare, although it does allow more in-depth character customization. On top of that, the zombie mode from World at War makes a comeback.

Black Ops was released on the PS3, the Xbox 360, the Wii, and the DS, as well as on Windows and OS X. As before, the Xbox 360 version can be played on the Xbox One due to backward compatibility.

At 30 million copies sold, Modern Warfare 3 is the best-selling Call of Duty game of all time. It continued the story of Modern Warfare 2 and is the first game to be co-developed by Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games, the latter being the studio that would work on separate Call of Duty titles in the future.

Not much to anyone’s surprise, the core mechanics remain largely identical to the previous installments. There are no major changes in the multiplayer department either, as the changes came down mostly to balance the experience. However, the game did introduce a brand new “survival” co-op mode that had players defending against waves of enemies, obviously inspired by the Zombie mode of the 5^th game.

Ultimately, Modern Warfare 3 ended up being released on all the same systems as Black Ops, although it would be the last Call of Duty game available on OS X and on the Nintendo Wii.

A sequel to the original Black Ops, Black Ops II was, unsurprisingly, very similar to its predecessor. However, it was the first Call of Duty game with two campaigns set in different periods — the 1980s and the 2020s. Not only that, but it was also the first Call of Duty game to feature a degree of player agency.

In terms of the multiplayer, the most significant addition was a weapon progression system that would unlock various modifications and attachments as the weapon leveled up. Other than that, it merely streamlined the competitive multiplayer, and it featured a zombie mode, just like World at War and the original Black Ops.

In addition to the regular console and Windows releases, Black Ops II was also the first of the two Call of Duty games that were released on Nintendo’s Wii U.

The fourth Call of Duty game made by Infinity Ward that takes place in a modern setting, Ghosts was Modern Warfare 4 in everything but name. It does go further into the future and sci-fi aspects previously explored in Black Ops II, though, hinting at what the future holds for the series.

Ghosts introduces a whole new cast of characters, and perhaps the most notable addition to the single-player campaign is the ability to control an animal — a trained German Shepherd named Riley. The multiplayer brings destructible environments, some new game modes, and the usual optimization, but remains mostly unchanged from the previous installments.

Ghosts was the first Call of Duty game to be released on both the 7^th and 8^th generation consoles, and it was also the second and last Call of Duty game available for the Wii U. Naturally, it was released for Windows as well.

Advanced Warfare was the first Call of Duty game to be developed solely by Sledgehammer Games. It is also the first time that Call of Duty took a dive head-first into sci-fi, as the events of the game are set mid-way through the 21^st century, which is much farther into the future than any of the previous games went.

The game expands upon the old Call of Duty formula by introducing the Exoskeleton suit that, among other things, greatly improved character mobility, something that made for an even faster-paced gameplay experience. On top of that, it also featured extra abilities such as cloaking, a portable shield, a health boost and more.

The multiplayer remains similar, although the maps are crafted to capitalize on the increased mobility. In addition to the regular competitive mode, it also included a refreshed take on the Survival and Zombie modes.

Ultimately, Advanced Warfare was released on all the same platforms as the previous two games, barring the Wii U, which was skipped most likely due to the console’s technical limitations.

Following the trend started by Advanced Warfare, Black Ops III abandoned the Cold War era and repositioned its focus solely on the futuristic environment of the 2060s. What’s interesting about Black Ops III is the fact that even the campaign was designed primarily with 4-player co-op in mind. This was reflected in the customizable characters and the more open level design.

In the multiplayer department not much had changed, as it was the same type of gameplay with enhanced mobility from Advanced Warfare, and it retained the weapon progression from the previous Black Ops game. Black Ops III did, however, add some special character classes with unique abilities and an updated and improved zombie mode.

Black Ops III was released on all the same platforms as Advanced Warfare, although it would be the last Call of Duty game released on 7^th generation PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles.

Infinite Warfare is as sci-fi as Call of Duty has gotten so far. The events of the game take place in the far future, the exact year being left out intentionally. For the very first time, Infinite Warfare took combat to space as well, putting the player in zero-gravity environments but also in the pilot seat of a fighter craft.

Fundamentally, not much was changed about the multiplayer mechanics, as it is still heavily based on the preceding games. Specialist classes now take the form of “combat rigs,” and players can now craft different weapons, all the while the movement mechanics remain unchanged. The game also includes a more streamlined take on the traditional zombie mode.

Infinite Warfare is the first Call of Duty game released only on 8^th generation consoles (the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One) and Windows.

After almost ten years, Call of Duty finally went back to the signature World War II setting with the appropriately named Call of Duty: WWII. Given this drastic change, WWII removes the advanced technology and mechanics enabled by said technologies (such as the increased mobility) in favor of a more traditional Call of Duty experience.

A big regression to the mechanics of the original Call of Duty is the removal of automatic health regeneration, something that has been the staple of the franchise ever since Call of Duty 2. Needless to say, this put the brakes on the fast-paced gameplay of the many previous titles, making for a more down-to-earth FPS experience.

When it comes to the multiplayer, the most significant change was the scrapping of custom classes in favor of pre-made “divisions,” each with their own set of abilities and particular playstyles. Once again, the Zombie mode makes a return, still largely the same as its first incarnation.

Much like Infinite Warfare, WWII was only released on the 8^th generation consoles and Windows.

You can check out our Call of Duty: WWII optimization guide if you plan on playing the game.

The fourth Black Ops game in a row, Black Ops 4 was released in October 2018, and it has already received a lot of flak for scrapping the single-player aspect entirely, replacing the campaign with a battle royale mode.

It doesn’t change much from Black Ops III when it comes to the overall mechanics, although it does remove automatic health regeneration, just like WWII. Apart from that, it still has the same movement mechanics, customization, and progression options as Black Ops III, all the while it features an updated and improved zombie mode.

And once again, Black Ops 4 was released only on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows.

The newest main game in the franchise, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is a reboot of the iconic 2007 game, featuring some familiar faces and rooting the franchise in a more realistic down-to-earth setting and play-style once again.

In stark contrast to Black Ops 4, the new Modern Warfare focuses more on delivering quality single-player content and brings back the Spec Ops co-op missions from the earlier Modern Warfare titles. All in all, it is the most realistic and, based on your tastes, one of the best Call of Duty games so far.

The game has been released for the PlayStation 4, the Xbox One and Windows.

Following the multiplayer-oriented Black Ops 4, Black Ops makes a return to the more established Call of Duty formula with Cold War, complete with a single-player campaign set in the 1980s during the Cold War, as the title clearly suggests.

The campaign is inspired by real-life events and features some returning characters, although the player will be stepping into the combat boots of a customizable character codenamed Bell. On top of that, the campaign also features multiple endings that are determined by some of the choices the player makes during the campaign.

As far as the multiplayer is concerned, the game features traditional multiplayer modes, a zombie mode, as well as one new mode called Fireteam that will support a total of up to 40 players.

The game is available on PC, as well as the PlayStation 5, the Xbox Series X/S and their last-generation counterparts.

Spin-offs

Call of Duty: Finest Hour came a year after the original Call of Duty, and it was developed for the 6^th generation consoles listed above. It keeps the mechanics of the first game largely unchanged, although it does offer a different campaign with a new set of intertwined storylines that take place alongside the storylines of the first Call of Duty.

Just like Finest Hour, Call of Duty 2: Big Red One is an alternative take on the main entry in the series that was developed specifically for the 6^th generation consoles. As before, the mechanics remain nigh-identical but the campaign is brand new and focuses on parts of World War II not explored in the original game.

Roads to Victory came out several months after Call of Duty 3, and much like the three 6^th generation console titles, it was an adaptation of this main game for the PSP. Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t feature any major changes to the formula or the mechanics of Call of Duty, and it even had a 6-player competitive multiplayer mode. It was also the first and only Call of Duty game to come to the PSP.

The final Call of Duty game available on the 6^th generation consoles, World at War – Final Fronts was developed solely for the PlayStation 2. Just like the other two games, it is an adaptation that offers basically unchanged gameplay but provides a new campaign and storyline. Unlike the prior two games, though, Final Fronts had omitted multiplayer entirely, most likely due to the diminishing popularity of the PS2.

Once again, we see a handheld adaptation of one of the main series Call of Duty games, only this time, it’s Modern Warfare 2 for the Nintendo DS. Modern Warfare: Mobilized took advantage of the console’s two screens and it featured some new minigames. As the other standalone spin-off titles, it follows a different storyline than its “parent” game.

Zombies was the first Call of Duty game released for smartphones. Considering that it’s a mobile game, it features more simplified mechanics and is based on World at War’s zombie survival mode, meaning that the focus of the game is fortifying one’s position and defending against waves of zombies, as one could easily deduce from the title.

A sequel to the original Call of Duty: Zombies, Black Ops – Zombies is hardly any different from its predecessor, although it does streamline the gameplay a bit more and introduces better graphics.

Black Ops: Declassified was the first game for a handheld PlayStation console since Roads to Victory was released for the PSP in 2007. Even though it featured updated graphics and was very well adapted to the PS Vita, the game was not received very well at the time of its release, mainly because of bugs and some design decisions that stemmed from the technical limitations of the console.

The third Call of Duty mobile game, Strike Team, was quite different from the two zombie games that came before it. Namely, it was a game revolving around squad tactics that had the player controlling a whole squad rather than only one character.

Building upon the foundation set by Strike Team, Heroes takes Call of Duty into the real-time strategy genre for the first time in the franchise’s history. The game doesn’t follow any real narrative and is very similar to most other mobile RTS games out there.

The latest Call of Duty spin-off mobile title is the aptly titled Call of Duty: Mobile. It is a very popular free-to-play shooter that has already claimed the title of the most profitable mobile launch in history.  

It’s not difficult to see why. With over a dozen maps, five game modes, complete with a Battle Royale and zombie modes, it offers the kind of complexity that you don’t usually see in mobile games these days.

That said, Call of Duty: Mobile brings a proper Call of Duty experience to modern smartphones, and many are hailing it as the best mobile Call of Duty game to date.

Conclusion

And that would be all the Call of Duty games released so far!

We keep this list of all Call of Duty games up-to-date & even include upcoming ones as soon as they’re announced, so be sure to revisit this page from time to time.