100 Facts about 'Call of Duty'

Call of Duty is one of the longest-running and most successful video game franchises of all time

It's also the only game that really encourages you to embrace your inner dude holding a gun peeking around corners. I'm Dave Baker, today we're listing 100 facts you

didn't know about Call of Duty. Call of Duty is a first-person shooter video game franchise

published by Activision that has been going since 2003. Almost without exception, a new

Call of Duty game gets released once a year. The initial game in the series was released October

29, 2003. It was developed by Infinity Ward and simply titled Call of Duty. The game was made by

the team that created Medal of Honor, famed World War Tutor FPS game series. However, they were all

abruptly let go from EA Games and decided to make their own competing World War II shooter

The initial working title of Call of Duty was in fact Medal of Honor Killer. The game engine that

Call of Duty was built on was a modded version of the idTech 3, which was built by id Software for

Quake 3 Arena. Infinity Ward built a game where players inhabit American soldiers, British paratroopers

and Red Army servicemen as they go head-to-head with the Axis forces. The game also features a

new approach to AI-controlled allies who support the main player during missions. They react to

the various situations that transpire over the course of the game and enhance the experience

Obviously, this is an old hat idea currently, but remember, this was way back in 2003

This emphasis on AI changed the modality of the first-person shooter to be more of a squad-based game

and strayed from the typical lone wolf approach to the genre. Upon release, Call of Duty won numerous awards, including the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Game of the Year Award

Computer Gaming World's Shooter of the Year, and it was also nominated for Best Game by the Gaming Developers Choice Awards

The second release and the overall Call of Duty franchise was not, in fact, Call of Duty 2

It was an expansion pack titled Call of Duty United Defensive. It introduced ranks and multiplayer gaming

Defensive was developed by Grey Matter Interactive and Pi Studios. It was released on Microsoft Windows on September 14, 2004

The expansion pack is loosely inspired by the Band of Brother episodes Bastogon and The Breaking Point

As an added surrealist treat to the game, it also features a secret cow with a massive bell

Yeah, there's really not anything more complex to it than that. It's just a big cow that's hidden that has a ridiculously large bell

Call of Duty 2 was released November 22, 2005. It was developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision

The campaign mode of the game is also set during World War II and features a rotating perspective of four characters

two British soldiers, an American soldier, and a Red Army soldier. The sequel is comprised of 27 missions

It also features many new features like regenerating health and an icon that indicates a grenade nearby

It received many awards and was widely beloved by the critic community

GamePro gave it 4.5 stars, GameSpot gave it 5 stars on PC, and IGN gave it a 9.0

X-Play, remember X-Play, gave it a 5-star review as well. The game was used as a launch title for Xbox 360 and sold over 250,000 units in its first week

When asked about the development of Call of Duty 2 Infinity Ward president Grant Collier said our team at Infinity Ward is committed to thrusting gamers into the heart of battle like no other taking players on a thrill ride of adrenaline that leaves everyone gasping for air

In Call of Duty 2, we are creating the most intense and realistic action game imaginable

with a stunning visual atmosphere and an advanced technology that delivers an unprecedented level of authenticity

Call of Duty 2 introduced the battle chatter system. Call of Duty 2 was also created on a modded version of id Tech 3, christened IW Engine 2.0

Call of Duty 3 was released in 2006 by Treyarch and published by Activision

It was released on PS3, Wii, Xbox 360, PS2, and Xbox. It follows the model of the prior game of the franchise where players play along AI teammates to achieve objectives

The campaign mode takes the perspective of an American, a Canadian, British, and Polish soldier over the course of 14 missions

After the release of the game, three additional maps were released on Xbox Live Marketplace

Champs was a free map released on January 11, 2007. Valor was a map pack that contained five individual maps

And then Bravo, another map pack containing five maps. If you didn't notice, this is the first full game to be released by a developer that's not Infinity War

Over the course of the franchise, they would work with a few developers, including Treyarch and Sledgehammer Games

Treyarch made Call of Duty 3 in just eight months. The next game in the franchise, Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare, developed by Infinity War, was published by Activision in 2007

This game was obviously a big departure from the series, ditching the World War II setting and establishing a near-future setting of 2011

The plot of the game centers around a radical terrorist leader executing the president of a Middle Eastern country that was not named

Then, things go from bad to worse, with an ultra-nationalist movement starting a civil war in Russia

The player then lives out roles as a U.S. Force Reconnaissance Marine and a British SAS Commando as they attempt to intervene

This is the game that introduced the perk system. The game received universal acclaim and ultimately was hailed as a modern-day classic

The game was built on the IW 3.0 engine. The retail version of the game came with a DVD commentary titled Great SAS Missions

which included archival footage and behind-the-scenes making of footage. The game also featured a downloadable variety pack

Treyarch released a would-be final World War II-themed Call of Duty game

titled Call of Duty World at War in 2008. Their narrative focuses on the Pacific and Eastern theaters of World War II

The game sold over 3 million copies in the first two months of release. Later on, World at War became backwards compatible with the Xbox One in September of 2016

The primary standout of World at War is the inclusion of what was intended to be a side game

Well, this side game would go on to be wildly popular. The title? Nazi Zombies. It's exactly what you think it is

Up to four players can play at a time and live out the righteous cause of demolishing undead national socialists

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 is the sixth installment into the main franchise and a direct sequel to Modern Warfare

It was released November 10, 2009 on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360

The game follows Task Force 141, an elite special forces unit, as they attempt to hunt down Vladimir Marakov, the leader of a Russian nationalist group

The game's playable characters include Sergeant Gary Roach Sanderson and Private James Ramirez The former is a member of 141 the latter an army ranger The game was highly financially successful Upon its release however it was criticized for being too short

and not bringing anything new to the table in terms of innovation. The comic book tie-in was released titled Modern Warfare 2 Ghost

It was written by David Lapham and illustrated by Kevin West with covers by Federico Delocio

The game also received widespread criticism and became embroiled into a controversy

due to the fact that one of the levels has a player carrying out a terror attack at an airport

Call of Duty Black Ops was developed by Treyarch and published by, you guessed it, Activision

It was released in November of 2010. It's the seventh title in the Call of Duty series, and the third to be developed by Treyarch

It serves as a sequel to Call of Duty World at War. Set in the 1960s, the game is a Cold War epic that follows CIA operative Alex Mason

as he attempts to recall certain memories in order to execute a military plan

development of the game was commenced in 2009. Believe it or not, it was developed in tandem

with Call of Duty World at War, meaning they were literally making both games at the same time

The music for the game was composed by Sean Murray. The game received generally positive

reviews. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 was released in 2011. The game's campaign picks up

where Modern Warfare 2 leaves off. The game is also centered on Task Force 141 as they continue

to hunt down Vladimir Marokov. For the game's multiplayer mode, killstreaks were implemented

Some behind-the-scenes drama transpired when Infinity Ward co-founders Jason West and Vince Zampella left the company to form Respawn Entertainment

The same thing that happened with the previous installments happened this time around again

The game did very well commercially, however, was critiqued for not evolving enough or having innovated

However, it did win the Spike Video Game Awards nomination for Best Shooter

It was very commercially successful as well. At this point, it was the largest entertainment launch of all time

Call of Duty Elite was an online service put together by Beachhead Studios for multiplayer combat

It featured a free version that included lifetime statistics and a social networking integration

However, it was shut down in February of 2014. In 2012, a direct sequel was released titled Call of Duty Black Ops 2

The game picks up in the 1980s and then transitions to 2025

The dual protagonists of Alex Mason and Frank Woods return, as well as Alex Mason's son, David

The chief antagonist is Raul Menendez, a Nicaraguan cartel leader who sparks a second Cold War

The game was heralded on its release for its non-linear gameplay and multiple possible endings

One of the bigger divergences in the multiplayer in Black Ops 2 is the implementation of Pick 10

meaning the player can pick a total of 10 allocated slots in a class, such as guns, perks, grenades, etc

Killstreaks, a feature from previous games, were renamed Scorestreaks. Black Ops 2 is the first game in the franchise to incorporate competitive mode, known as League Play

In 2015, it was announced that Activision would develop a cinematic universe based on the Call of Duty games

However, this project appears to just be on hold, as the initial film that was slated to be released was supposed to come out in 2019, and that's come and gone

Black Ops 3 was released November 6th, 2015. It was the 12th game in the franchise, and it was developed by Treyarch

It takes place in 2065 40 years after the events of Black Ops 2 It centers on a world facing an unprecedented climate change and a wide array of new and boundary technologies have

appeared. The game's main campaign is designed to encompass a four-player cooperative gameplay

scheme. It has a larger scale and features less corridor shooting and more open-level design

As an additional element to the game, it's the first Call of Duty story to feature characters

that are cybernetically enhanced, therefore have special abilities. In the near future

the world is divided into two large groups, the Winslow Accord and the Common Defense Pact

As a reaction to a drone attack by a villain from a previous game, multiple countries have

banded together to develop the Directed Energy Air Defense System in order to neutralize typical

air-bound combat methods. An official trailer for Black Ops 3 was released starring Cara Delevingne

and Michael B. Jordan. It started rumors that Black Ops film was being produced, however

nothing like that ever happened. Around this time, Dark Horse Comics released a six-issue miniseries

called Call of Duty Zombies, illustrated by Jonathan Wayshack and written by Justin Jordan

Call of Duty Infinite Warfare was released in 2016. It was developed by Infinity Ward and

published by Activision. The game is distinctly more science fiction. It follows characters

battling for control of a solar system. The player inhabits Lieutenant Nick Reyes

Special Combat Air Recon, aka Scar, as they go head-to-head against the settlement defense front

The trailer for the game was met with highly negative reaction from fans

being the second most disliked video of all time on YouTube. The fanbase was upset that the game had gone so far into the distant future

The game takes some serious risks, though. It takes place in outer space

so it has some really cool zero-gravity environments, gameplay mechanics, and loads of new equipment

including a grappling hook. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2019 may be titled the same thing

as another game in the franchise, but it's a completely new game, one that Activision and Infinity Ward

considered a soft reboot to the franchise. It was released October 25, 2019 on Microsoft Windows, PS4, and Xbox One

The game takes place in a modern setting, unlike some of the other installments, which are futuristic in nature

Its goal was to focus on more emotions and character, and have a more cinematic approach to storytelling instead of just mindless violence

The game follows a CIA officer and a British SAS officer as they team up with rebels from a made-up country

in order to fight off Russian forces that have invaded a supposedly sovereign nation

The game's special ops mode features co-op play for missions to act as an epilogue to the game's primary campaign

The game also features cross-platform multiplayer. It also introduces a new movement mechanic titled Super Sprint

You can engage this by tapping the sprint button twice. Additionally, the gunsmith allows a player to alter their weapons with up to 30 possible mods

Call of Duty is arguably one of the most successful video game franchises of all time

It sold 250 million games, generated over $15 billion, and spawned a mountain of merchandise

It had an action figure line put out by Plan B Toys, a card game by Upper Deck

and of course, 28 games have been released in the franchise. So, what does the future hold for Call of Duty

Well, it's recently leaked that the next installment of the franchise is going to be titled Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War

When will it be released? Well, according to a leaked Doritos campaign, the game is going to be scheduled for October 25, 2020

But also pandemic