Wondering what the release order for all Call of Duty games is? Well, you’re in the right place. In this guide, we’ll clue you in on the order of release for Activision’s best-selling military first-person shooter series. So, without further delay, let’s dive in!
Call of Duty
- Release Year: 2003
- Lead Developer: Infinity Ward
- Platforms: PC, Mac, N-Gage, PS3, Xbox 360
- PC Metacritic Score: 91
The OG first-person shooter that started it all. Not exactly visually impressive looking back at it now, but this was undoubtedly a hugely influential title that kickstarted an entire, annualized franchise.
Call of Duty 2
- Release Year: 2004
- Lead Developer: Infinity Ward
- Platforms: PC, Mac, Xbox 360
- PC Metacritic Score: 86
Infinity Ward’s sophomore effort continued the World War II narrative of the studio’s debut while introducing new features like regenerating health and improved enemy AI. Overall, a solid sequel that built upon and refined its predecessor’s formula.
Call of Duty 3
- Release Year: 2006
- Lead Developer: Treyarch
- Platforms: PS2, PS3, Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360
- Xbox 360 Metacritic Score: 82
Oddly enough, Treyarch’s debut skipped PCs for some mysterious reason and was obviously the first ever CoD game to be developed by a different studio. While it was not quite as well received as the previous duo of titles, it’s still a solid WWII shooter experience.
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
- Release Year: 2007
- Lead Developer: Infinity Ward
- Platforms: PC, Mac, Nintendo DS, PS3, PS4 (Remastered), Wii, Xbox 360, Xbox One (Remastered)
- PC Metacritic Score: 92
If Infinity Ward’s first Call of Duty title was the earthquake, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare was the earth-shattering aftershock. Yes, this is often touted as the best game in the series for a few reasons: Its newly revamped multiplayer suite was addictive, its modern setting was novel, its clever story was super interesting, and its introduction of killstreaks was a stroke of genius. A must-play for any discerning CoD fan!
Call of Duty: World at War
- Release Year: 2008
- Lead Developer: Treyarch
- Platforms: PC, Nintendo DS, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360
- PC Metacritic Score: 83
Treyarch’s WWII shooter may have had a pretty mediocre campaign, but it thankfully introduced a little mode that would go on to prove to be super popular with the CoD community: Zombies. Yes, the iconic, round-based survive-’em-up began right here, folks!
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Release Year: 2009
Lead Developer: Infinity Ward
Platforms: PC, Nintendo DS, PS3, Xbox 360
PC Metacritic Score: 86
Building upon the foundations laid down by 2007’s Modern Warfare, Infinity Ward’s follow-up enhanced almost every aspect of the game. From a more varied multiplayer offering to a campaign that brimmed with plot twists aplenty, Modern Warfare 2 is easily one of the franchise’s more beloved entries. And that’s all without mentioning that No Russian level, which was equally memorable as it was controversial.
Call of Duty: Black Ops
- Release Year: 2010
- Lead Developer: Treyarch
- Platforms: PC, Mac, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii
- PC Metacritic Score: 81
Fleshing out the Zombies mode introduced in 2008’s World At War, Treyarch’s debut Black Ops title — a game that would kickstart an entire sub-franchise — was all about refining and tweaking the CoD formula. Easily one of the most beloved games on this list.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
- Release Year: 2011
- Lead Developer: Infinity Ward
- Platforms: PC, Mac, PS3, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, Wii
- PC Metacritic Score: 78
Largely just a shinier version of the first duo of titles in Infinity Ward’s sub-franchise, this is arguably when diminishing returns for the series began to set in. Not a terrible game by any means, but definitely one of the black sheep of the franchise.
Call of Duty: Black Ops II
- Release Year: 2012
- Lead Developer: Treyarch
- Platforms: PC, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U
- PC Metacritic Score: 74
Another title that largely coasted off its predecessor’s success, Black Ops 2 is a pretty messy sequel both narratively and multiplayer-wise. Though the newly implemented Pick 10 system was pretty cool and is still used to this day, Zombies’ Tranzit map, on the other hand, is still considered one of the worst Zombies maps the series has offered so far.
Call of Duty: Ghosts
- Release Year: 2012
- Lead Developer: Infinity Ward
- Platforms: PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
- PC Metacritic Score: 68
The punching bag of the entire series, Ghosts was the first PS4 and Xbox One CoD offering that was set to usher in a new generation. Instead, its multiplayer was a laggy mess, its campaign was so short you could blink and miss it, and Zombies had been replaced with rather bland-looking aliens. Sadly, one of the worst games in the series by quite a wide margin.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
- Release Year: 2013
- Lead Developer: Sledgehammer Games
- Platforms: PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
- PC Metacritic Score: 78
Heading even further into futuristic territory, Advanced Warfare boasted exoskeletons, cybernetically enhanced soldiers, and double jumps. Thankfully, the multiplayer was super fun to play, and the single-player component was pretty memorable, especially with its star-studded cast.
Call of Duty: Black Ops III
- Release Year: 2015
- Lead Developer: Treyarch
- Platforms: PC, Mac, PS3, PS4, Xbox One
- PC Metacritic Score: 73
With its introduction of wall-running and a more decked-out exo-suit, Black ops III was fairly well received and is widely considered as a sequel that largely redeemed itself following the weaker entry in the series’ sub-franchise.
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
- Release Year: 2016
- Lead Developer: Infinity Ward
- Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One
- PC Metacritic Score: 73
Boasting one of the strongest stories CoD has seen in years and a bonkers Zombies mode that featured the shuffling undead wreaking havoc on a sci-fi amusement park, Infinite Warfare was only let down by a middling multiplayer offering that failed to tread any new ground.
Call of Duty: WWII
- Release Year: 2017
- Lead Developer: Sledgehammer Games
- Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One
- PC Metacritic Score: 73
Returning to its World War II roots after a nine-year hiatus, WWII felt like a long time coming for the Call of Duty community. Specifically, it was its gritty and realistic “boots on the ground” gameplay that helped elevate this entry, largely thanks to the preceding glut of futuristic CoD games before it.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
- Release Year: 2018
- Lead Developer: Treyarch
- Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One
- PC Metacritic Score: 83
The first ever Call of Duty title to not feature a proper single-player campaign, Black Ops 4 had its work cut out for it to make a good first impression. Despite this fact, it still went on to become one of the best-selling games in the series, which is no small feat, indeed.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Release Year: 2019
- Lead Developer: Infinity Ward
- Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One
- PC Metacritic Score: 81
Infinity Ward’s confusingly named 2019 reboot, Modern Warfare, was a gritty take on the action-packed blockbuster franchise. While some detractors criticized the game’s balancing in multiplayer; overall, Modern Warfare is well-regarded by the fanbase and is undoubtedly one of the best modern entries in Activision’s first-person shooter series.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
- Release Year: 2020
- Lead Developer: Treyarch
- Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
- PC Metacritic Score: 76
CoD’s debut on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S was sadly mired with dodgy online net code, technical issues, and just a general feeling of been-there-done-that. Despite these issues, the game still went on to become the biggest-selling title of 2020.
Call of Duty: Vanguard
- Release Year: 2021
- Lead Developer: Sledgehammer Games
- Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
- PC Metacritic Score: 72
After four years away, it was time for the popular military first-person shooter series to return to the muddy trenches of World War II. Yes, it’s safe to say that Vanguard is yet another installment that isn’t particularly fondly remembered by the fanbase, thanks to a weak Zombies offering, a middling campaign, and an overall feeling of déjà vu.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
- Release Year: 2022
- Lead Developer: Infinity Ward
- Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
- PC Metacritic Score: 79
Frankly, I think Activision missed a trick by not calling it Modern Warfare II: Two, but c’est la vie. Indeed, this second iteration of Modern Warfare II doesn’t take many risks, but it still doles out its signature gameplay loop with aplomb, reflected by yet another milestone: this one is yet again Activision’s best-selling game to date. Impressive, no?
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III
- Release Year: 2023
- Lead Developer: Sledgehammer Games
- Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
- PC Metacritic Score: TBD
Modern Warfare 3 is a re-imagination of the hit classic that released back in 2011, revamping iconic 2009 maps for multiplayer. It is the first Modern Warfare installment to ever feature a Zombies mode, with an all-new open-world feature that increases the challenge further. You can expect a ton of improvements that make the overall experience more user-friendly, such as slide canceling and more fluid movements.
So, there you have it. We hope this helped to clue you in on the release order for all Call of Duty games. For more, go ahead and check out our ranking of all Call of Duty games. Alternatively, feel free to peruse the relevant links down below.
