69 Fun Facts About Call of Duty

Which company has published every Call of Duty game since the series began in 2003?

The franchise has sold more than 500 million copies and passed $30 billion in revenue by 2022.

The original 2003 Call of Duty was set during which war?

The 2003 original was set in World War II, following American, British and Soviet soldiers on a modified id Tech 3 engine with squad-based combat.

Which studio developed the first Call of Duty and later created Modern Warfare?

Its 22 founding staff had all worked on Medal of Honor: Allied Assault at a studio called 2015.

Which 2007 game moved the series out of World War II and became its breakthrough hit?

It introduced killstreak rewards and the Prestige system, which resets a player's rank in exchange for a new insignia.

Warzone, released in March 2020, is which type of game mode?

Warzone is a free-to-play battle royale launched in March 2020 inside Modern Warfare (2019), dropping up to 150 players onto Verdansk.

The cooperative Zombies mode made its debut in which game?

Zombies debuted in World at War (2008) as the unlockable Nazi Zombies bonus mode and has returned in every Treyarch entry since.

Which Modern Warfare 2 mission caused an outcry for letting players take part in an airport massacre?

'No Russian' has the player join Makarov's massacre at Zakhaev International Airport; the game offered a prompt to skip the mission entirely.

Captain Price is voiced in the original Modern Warfare trilogy by Billy Murray and in the reboot by whom?

Barry Sloane voices Captain Price in the 2019 Modern Warfare reboot; Billy Murray played him in the original trilogy, himself an homage to the WWII Price of 2003.

Which SAS recruit joins Captain Price's team as a sergeant in Call of Duty 4?

Sergeant John 'Soap' MacTavish joins Price's SAS squad as a fresh recruit in Call of Duty 4 and has risen to captain by Modern Warfare 2.

Who is the Ultranationalist leader that Price hunts in Call of Duty 4?

Imran Zakhaev leads the Ultranationalists in Call of Duty 4, having built his movement on nuclear-material profits after Chernobyl and the Soviet collapse.

Which lieutenant general betrays Soap's unit and executes Roach and Ghost in Modern Warfare 2?

Lieutenant General Shepherd kills Roach and Ghost; having lost 30,000 men to the 2011 nuke, he leaked Ranger Joseph Allen's identity to start a war he could win.

What multinational special forces unit does Soap command in Modern Warfare 2?

Task Force 141 is the multinational unit Captain Soap MacTavish commands; its playable member is Sergeant Gary 'Roach' Sanderson, while Private Ramirez carries the Rangers missions.

Black Ops (2010) follows CIA operative Alex Mason as he tries to locate what?

Mason hunts a Soviet numbers station whose broadcast would trigger sleeper agents to release the nerve agent Nova 6 across the United States.

Which Hollywood actor voices Viktor Reznov in World at War and Black Ops?

Gary Oldman voices Viktor Reznov in both games; Sam Worthington is Mason, Ed Harris is handler Jason Hudson and Ice Cube is Joseph Bowman.

Which US president orders Mason to assassinate Dragovich in Black Ops?

John F. Kennedy personally orders Mason to kill Dragovich in a Pentagon briefing, while a brainwashed Mason sees visions of shooting the president.

Black Ops sold how many copies in its first 24 hours, breaking Modern Warfare 2's record?

Black Ops sold 5.6 million copies in the US and UK in its first 24 hours, beating Modern Warfare 2's 4.7 million, and later topped 25 million worldwide.

The multiplayer map Nuketown is set in what kind of location?

Nuketown is a mock 1950s suburb in a Nevada nuclear test town, like the mannequin-filled houses built at the Nevada Test Site; a bomb levels the map after every match.

Black Ops II jumps between the 1980s and which future year?

Black Ops II alternates between Woods's 1980s flashbacks and a 2025 Cold War with China, and was the series' first game with branching storylines and multiple endings.

Who is the arms-dealing main villain of Black Ops II?

Raul Menendez is Black Ops II's villain; a non-canon post-credits scene has him and Woods performing 'Carry On' with Avenged Sevenfold.

Modern Warfare 3 grossed how much in its first 24 hours, then the biggest entertainment launch ever?

Modern Warfare 3 grossed $400 million in the US and UK in its first 24 hours, selling 6.5 million copies, and added a wave-based Survival mode to Spec Ops.

Ghosts introduced the series' first non-human playable character. What was it?

Its Extinction mode swapped zombies for aliens called Cryptids.

Which actor plays Atlas boss Jonathan Irons in Advanced Warfare?

Kevin Spacey plays Irons, with Troy Baker voicing the hero Jack Mitchell; the story runs from 2054 to 2061.

Advanced Warfare's signature new movement came from what piece of equipment?

An exoskeleton powers the Exo movements, letting players boost, dash and sky jump, a first for the boots-on-the-ground series.

Black Ops III is set in which year?

Black Ops III is set in 2065, forty years after Black Ops II; its Nightmares mode replays the campaign with a new story and zombies swapped in for most enemies.

Which Game of Thrones actor plays villain Salen Kotch in Infinite Warfare?

Kit Harington plays Admiral Salen Kotch, leader of the Settlement Defense Front; the game's 2016 reveal trailer briefly became YouTube's second-most-disliked video.

Infinite Warfare's campaign takes the fight to which new setting?

Infinite Warfare takes the fight into outer space: players fly the transforming Jackal fighter to planets, moons and asteroids across the Solar System.

Special editions of Infinite Warfare bundled a remaster of which earlier game?

For many players the remaster was the real reason to buy the 2016 package.

Call of Duty: WWII follows a squad in which US Army division?

WWII follows Private Ronald 'Red' Daniels of the 1st Infantry Division, the 'Big Red One', and was the first campaign since 2005's Big Red One to drop regenerating health.

Which was the first mainline Call of Duty to ship without a single-player campaign?

Black Ops 4 (2018) shipped with no campaign after a planned story mode called Career was scrapped early that year, leaning on multiplayer, Zombies and a new battle royale instead.

Black Ops 4's 100-player last-squad-standing mode was called what?

Blackout was Black Ops 4's 100-player battle royale, launching in October 2018, two years before Warzone, on a map stitched together from classic Black Ops locations.

Modern Warfare (2019) was the first in the series to support what?

Modern Warfare (2019) was the first Call of Duty with cross-platform play between PlayStation, Xbox and PC; it also added the two-on-two Gunfight mode with forty-second rounds.

The 2019 Modern Warfare campaign is set largely in which fictional country?

Urzikstan is the fictional country where Farah Karim's rebels team up with CIA officer Alex and Captain Price's SAS to hunt a stolen shipment of chlorine gas.

Black Ops Cold War, set in 1981, has CIA agent Russell Adler hunting which Soviet spy?

Adler hunts Perseus, a Soviet spy codename, across 1981; development began at Raven and Sledgehammer before Treyarch took the lead in May 2019.

Which studio developed Vanguard, Advanced Warfare and WWII?

Sledgehammer Games developed Advanced Warfare, WWII and Vanguard; it was founded in 2009 by Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey, the creators of Dead Space.

Modern Warfare III (2023) started life as what before becoming a full game?

Modern Warfare III began as an expansion pack for Modern Warfare II before Activision upgraded it to a full release, giving Sledgehammer roughly a year and a half after Vanguard to build it.

Black Ops 6 is set during which real-world conflict?

It is set during Operation Desert Storm, in The Gulf War, as Marshall and Woods assemble a team to hunt down Pantheon; it was also the first Call of Duty on Xbox Game Pass at launch.

Black Ops 7 is set in which year?

Black Ops 7 is set in 2035, a decade after Black Ops II's future timeline, in the fictional Mediterranean city of Avalon, with a campaign playable in four-player co-op.

Call of Duty: Mobile was developed by TiMi Studio Group, a division of which company?

TiMi Studio Group is part of Tencent; its Call of Duty: Mobile pulled 270 million downloads and about $480 million in its first year, one of the biggest mobile launches ever.

The Call of Duty League launched in 2020 with how many city-based franchise teams?

The Call of Duty League launched in 2020 with 12 city-based franchise teams, copying the Overwatch League model, and offered a $6 million prize pool in its first season.

Which two studio founders were fired by the publisher in 2010 and went on to start Respawn Entertainment?

Jason West and Vince Zampella, Infinity Ward's founders, were fired by Activision in March 2010 and started Respawn Entertainment, maker of Titanfall and Apex Legends.

Treyarch, developer of the Black Ops series, was founded in which year?

Treyarch was founded in 1996 by Peter Akemann and Doğan Köslü; Activision bought the Santa Monica studio in 2001.

Call of Duty 3 was notable as the first mainline entry not developed by which studio?

It was also the first not released on PC, and a launch title for the PlayStation 3 and Wii.

Call of Duty 2 was a launch title for which console in November 2005?

It sold more than 250,000 copies on the console in its first week and is regularly listed among the 360's best games.

World at War's campaign covers the Eastern Front and which other theatre?

The Pacific story follows US Marine Private Miller, while Soviet Private Dimitri Petrenko carries the Eastern Front campaign.

Which 24 star voices Corporal Roebuck in World at War?

Kiefer Sutherland voices Roebuck, the Marine corporal who helps rescue Private Miller on Makin Island and takes command after Sergeant Sullivan dies on Peleliu.

What weapon do players start with in the original Zombies mode?

Every player spawns with an M1911 pistol in Nazi Zombies and buys better guns off the walls; Black Ops later added a Pentagon map called 'Five'.

Guinness World Records recognises Call of Duty as the best-selling series in which genre?

Guinness World Records names Call of Duty the best-selling first-person shooter series, far ahead of rivals such as Halo and Battlefield.

Which studio struck a 2025 deal to make a live-action Call of Duty feature film?

Paramount Pictures struck a deal with Activision in September 2025 for a live-action Call of Duty film; earlier tie-ins included Mega Bloks sets and an Upper Deck trading card game.

The Call of Duty Endowment, co-founded by then-Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, helps whom?

General James L. Jones co-created it, and its partners include Hire Heroes USA and AMVETS.

Which game introduced the Pick 10 create-a-class system?

Black Ops II (2012) introduced Pick 10, giving every loadout ten slots to spend freely on weapons, attachments, perks and equipment.

Which map, launched automatically after finishing World at War's campaign, was Call of Duty's very first Zombies map?

Nacht der Untoten, 'Night of the Undead', launches automatically after the final campaign mission; the mode began as a hidden bonus rather than a headline feature.

Which World at War map introduced Zombies characters Dempsey, Nikolai, Richtofen and Takeo?

Shi No Numa, the 'Swamp of Death', introduced Dempsey, Nikolai, Richtofen and Takeo in Map Pack 2, with undead Imperial Japanese soldiers instead of Nazi zombies.

Which World at War DLC map first had a power generator to switch on and Perk-a-Cola machines?

'Verrückt' means 'crazy', fitting for a map set in an asylum whose two halves are separated until the power is on.

Which of these Zombies maps shipped in the base version of the original Black Ops alongside 'Five'?

'Kino der Toten' means 'Cinema of the Dead'; the third base offering, Dead Ops Arcade, was a twin-stick shooter unlocked via a hidden terminal.

Which four celebrities played themselves as the playable characters in the Black Ops Zombies map 'Call of the Dead'?

Danny Trejo, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Robert Englund and Michael Rooker fight a zombified George A. Romero, the director whose Dead films the map's title salutes.

Which Black Ops Zombies map lets players fight in low gravity?

Moon, released in the 2011 Rezurrection pack, has unpressurised areas where players and zombies float in low gravity; the pack also re-released the four World at War maps.

Which Avenged Sevenfold song is hidden as an Easter egg on the Black Ops II map 'Origins'?

'Shepherd of Fire' is Origins' hidden song; Avenged Sevenfold's Treyarch ties go back to 'Not Ready to Die' on Call of the Dead and 'Carry On' over the Black Ops II credits.

In Black Ops II, the 'Turned' mode pitted one human against how many player-controlled zombies?

Turned put one human against three player-controlled zombies in a four-player match; whoever killed the human became the survivor, so the roles kept flipping.

Black Ops 4 split Zombies into two storylines: the Aether story and which other?

Chaos was Black Ops 4's new storyline, following Scarlett Rhodes, Diego, Bruno and Shaw across IX, Voyage of Despair and Ancient Evil, alongside the returning Aether saga.

Which Black Ops Cold War Zombies map is set in 1980s East Berlin?

Mauer der Toten ('Wall of the Dead') is set in East Berlin in 1984; Cold War also broke tradition by letting players bring a custom loadout instead of starting every match with a pistol.

Which composer writes the hidden Easter-egg songs for Treyarch's Zombies maps?

Sherwood composed the Zombies music as far back as the original Black Ops, while Sean Murray scored that game's campaign.

In Black Ops 6 Zombies, which currency is spent on Pack-a-Punch upgrades and Perk-a-Cola cans?

Essence, earned from kills, pays for Pack-a-Punch upgrades and Perk-a-Cola cans in Black Ops 6 Zombies; Salvage, the second currency, buys ammo mods and armour.

Which studio developed the cancelled Call of Duty: Roman Wars, which would have starred Julius Caesar?

Vicarious Visions prototyped Call of Duty: Roman Wars around 2008; Activision cancelled it, unsure about branding an ancient-Rome game as Call of Duty.

Neversoft's cancelled sci-fi spin-off, leaked in 2024, was known internally by what code name?

NX1 was Neversoft's cancelled space-set Call of Duty; former developer Brian Bright said it was meant for 2013, and its assets resurfaced in Ghosts and Infinite Warfare.

The Modern Warfare 2: Ghost comic mini-series exploring Simon Riley's backstory was published by whom?

WildStorm, DC's imprint, published the six-issue Modern Warfare 2: Ghost miniseries; its first issue arrived on 10 November 2009, the same day as the game.

Which maker of the Humvee sued Activision in 2017 over the vehicle's appearance in Call of Duty games?

AM General, the Humvee's manufacturer, lost in 2020 when a federal judge ruled the vehicles served military realism, not trademark confusion.

In October 2025, which director was attached to the live-action Call of Duty film, with Taylor Sheridan co-writing?

Peter Berg signed on to direct in October 2025 with Taylor Sheridan co-writing and co-producing; an earlier version with Stefano Sollima attached had been shelved in 2020.

Which game introduced Specialists with unique abilities to Call of Duty multiplayer?

Black Ops III (2015) introduced Specialists, nine multiplayer characters such as Ruin and Outrider, each with a unique weapon or ability that charges over the match.

Raven Software's cancelled free-to-play Zombies game of 2012–13 drew inspiration from which film series?

Raven dropped it once Treyarch returned to making Black Ops Zombies, to avoid internal competition.