Call of Duty games in order: By release date and timeline

22 March 2023 , 09:56

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CALL of Duty is one of the most popular and successful gaming franchises in the world - and it hits its 20th birthday this year.

The warfare-based universe has amassed millions of players through dozens of titles since it debuted in 2003.

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Call of Duty is one of the most popular game franchisesCredit: AP:Associated Press

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Timelines within the franchise stretch back from World War II through the Vietnam War all the way to fictional conflicts set in the distant future.

Any gamer looking to play through the entire collection has two ways to go about it - but you'll need a lot of spare time on your hands.

You can either play the games in order of their release, or for a truly immersive experience, by following the franchise in timeline order.

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We've put together a guide to completing the series one way or the other below.

Call of Duty franchise release order

Call of Duty (2003)
Call of Duty: Finest Hour (2004)
Call of Duty 2 (2005)
Call of Duty 2: Big Red One (2005)
Call of Duty 3 (2006)
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007)
Call of Duty: World at War (2008)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009)
Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011)
Call of Duty: Black Ops II (2012)
Call of Duty: Ghosts (2013)
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (2014)
Call of Duty: Black Ops III (2015)
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (2016)
Call of Duty: WWII (2017)
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (2018)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (2020)
Call of Duty: Vanguard (2021)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022)

To make things concise, we haven't included the mobile games or various DLC (downloadable content) packs that have come out over the years.

There are reports of another game arriving this autumn, which will be a continuation of last year's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II.

Call of Duty franchise timeline order

Call of Duty: WW2 (1940)
Call of Duty: Finest Hour (1942)
Call of Duty: World at War (1942)
Call of Duty 2 (1942)
Call of Duty (1942)
Call of Duty 3 (1944)
Call of Duty: Big Red One (1944)
Call of Duty: Vanguard (1945)
Call of Duty: Black Ops (1961)
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (1960s)
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (1980s)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (1999)
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2011)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2016)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2016)
Call of Duty: Ghosts (2017)
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (2043)
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (2054)
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 (2065)
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (2080)

You can play the games in order of when they were set.

A lot of the games jump around across time, so we've taken the earliest date that the campaign takes place in.

Best Call of Duty game – tier list

The Sun spoke to top streamer BennyCentral to get his lowdown on the best Call of Duty games.

Here's his list, from worst to best:

N/A Call of Duty: Finest Hour (2004) - "I never played it."

18^th Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (2016) - "My least favourite Call of Duty, had a cool campaign and that’s about it."

17^th Call of Duty 2: Big Red One (2005) - (no comment).

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16^th Call of Duty: WWII (2017) - "The return for World War 2, it never really worked for me."

15^th Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (2014) - "Like marmite, I personally didn't like this as I didn't enjoy the jet pack gameplay."

14^th Call of Duty 3 (2006) - "Multiplayer for the first time! There's a reason it was remastered - BOG was also a great map!"

13th - Call of Duty (2003) - "Was only a campaign but my introduction to the Call of Duty franchise and I loved completing it on veteran."

12th Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (2020) - "The first integration game into Warzone, but for me wasn't my favourite Call of Duty."

11th Call of Duty: Vanguard (2021) - "Going back to the Modern Warfare Engine the multiplayer was actually really enjoyable again, though I still stick with Warzone."

10^th Call of Duty: Ghosts (2013) - "An underrated Call of Duty for me, but was a personal favourite because I had so much fun playing competitive."

9^th Call of Duty: World at War (2008) - "I still remember playing World at War constantly just to play with the tanks, though the dog killstreak really took over! Plus who can forget the map castle."

8^th Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010) - "Fast-paced games on firing range with an MP5 was one of my favourite times in Call of Duty – plus one of the greatest campaigns in Call of Duty."

7^th Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (2018) - "Brought healing your own health into the game which really changed the pace!"

6^th Call of Duty: Black Ops III (2015) - "Brought specialists into the game, which really mixed up the match ups – plus wall running! Had some great times playing custom mini-games with my friends on this."

5^th Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009) - "The Modern Warfare games have always been some of my favourites, and MW2 brought the tactical nuke into the series for the first time which was an unforgettable experience."

4^th Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007) - "A classic – the game that put Call of Duty on the map globally. Great story and multiplayer."

3^rd - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) - "Modern Warfare really kicked off the franchise again for me, especially with the launch of Warzone – had a great feel with the new engine."

2^nd Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011) - "Part of the golden era of Call of Duty offering a new unique experience in Multiplayer with Specialist that allowed you to have every perk in the game including the M.O.A.B."

1^st - Call of Duty: Black Ops II (2012) - "My all-time favourite Call of Duty, had it all. One of the greatest multiplayer experiences: killstreaks were incredible, loadstar, vtol, Swarm & dogs."