Call of Duty began as a World War 2 shooter in 2003, moved to modern warfare in 2007, went to the future in the 2010s and has since mixed reboots with new Black Ops entries. Modern Warfare 4 is scheduled for 23 October 2026, so the list below ends there.
Every main game in order
| Year | Title | Setting |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Call of Duty | World War 2 |
| 2005 | Call of Duty 2 | World War 2 |
| 2006 | Call of Duty 3 | World War 2 |
| 2007 | Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare | Modern |
| 2008 | World at War | World War 2, Pacific |
| 2009 | Modern Warfare 2 | Modern |
| 2010 | Black Ops | Cold War |
| 2011 | Modern Warfare 3 | Modern |
| 2012 | Black Ops II | Cold War and 2025 |
| 2013 | Ghosts | Near future |
| 2014 | Advanced Warfare | Future |
| 2015 | Black Ops III | Future |
| 2016 | Infinite Warfare | Far future |
| 2017 | WWII | World War 2 |
| 2018 | Black Ops 4 | Near future |
| 2019 | Modern Warfare | Reboot |
| 2020 | Black Ops Cold War | 1980s |
| 2021 | Vanguard | Alternate World War 2 |
| 2022 | Modern Warfare II | Reboot |
| 2023 | Modern Warfare III | Reboot |
| 2024 | Black Ops 6 | 1990s Gulf War |
| 2025 | Black Ops 7 | Near future, 2035 |
| 2026 | Modern Warfare 4 | Modern reboot |
World War 2 years, 2003 to 2008
The first games put you in real battles. Call of Duty 2 had larger maps and better AI, and World at War took the series to the Pacific and introduced the Zombies mode players still love.
Modern Warfare, 2007 to 2011
Modern Warfare changed the genre with contemporary weapons, a story built around Captain Price and Soap MacTavish, and a perks and killstreaks multiplayer that everything since has copied. Modern Warfare 2 gave us "No Russian", and Modern Warfare 3 closed the trilogy.
The future, 2012 to 2018
Black Ops II split its story between the Cold War and 2025. Advanced Warfare brought exoskeletons and Infinite Warfare went to space. Black Ops 4 dropped the single-player campaign and introduced the series' first battle royale, Blackout.
Reboots and Warzone, 2017 onwards
WWII went back to the roots. Modern Warfare (2019) restarted the Task Force 141 story, and Warzone, the free battle royale, arrived in 2020. Black Ops 6 added omnimovement, and Black Ops 7 pushed the story to 2035 with a co-op campaign and round-based Zombies.
Modern Warfare 4
Modern Warfare 4 continues the rebooted saga on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S, with Warzone progression carrying across. It uses Ricochet anti-cheat. Our Modern Warfare 4 product page is live as coming soon, with no sales yet, and the game we currently support is on the Call of Duty cheat page.
Why people still play
Campaigns with film-style set pieces, memorable characters, evolving multiplayer and Zombies keep the series popular. See how big it gets in our Call of Duty player count breakdown.