While CODM has garnered a fan base of over 500 million players around the world as of January 2025, “Call of Duty” as a gaming franchise video game has embraced the gaming community with numerous prominent and unique editions that have kept millions of players hooked on the format for decades.
The Call of Duty franchise released its first edition “Call of Duty” for Windows, macOS, N-Gage, X360 and PS3 in 2003. The franchise garnered a huge audience with its action-packed gaming experience and realistic graphics.
As of 2025, the COD franchise has launched a total of twenty-four mainline editions, “Black Ops 6” being the latest edition that was released in October, 2024, for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Windows. With millions of active players around the world, the COD gaming franchise is often hailed as one of the most popular and prominent gaming franchises to ever exist.
In this article we will take a look at the top four most popular and thrilling gaming editions ever launched by the Call of Duty franchise.
Top 4 Most Popular Call of Duty Series Of All-Time
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Call of Duty : Modern Warfare 2
Officially launched in 2019, “Call of Duty : Modern Warfare 2” is a first-person shooter video game quite similar to the dynamics of CODM (Call of Duty: Mobile), which was released as the 16th edition of the prominent “Call of Duty” series.
The game revolves around a dynamic and extremely powerful combat storyline wherein the players take on the role of a CIA officer of the British SAS forces and rebel against the Urzik terrorist troops – Al-Qatala and the Russian armed forces that have invaded their country. The 16th edition of the COD Series instantly became popular among the community of gamers on PC, Xbox and PlayStation as it brilliantly depicted the ambiguities of modern warfare and awed the gamers with its cinematic narrative and large-scale battles.
The realistic graphics and immersive sound effects further enhanced the gaming experience for the players and made “Call of Duty : Modern Warfare” a huge hit.
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Call of Duty : Warzone 2.0
Developed by Infinity Ward for PS4, Xbox Series X, PS5, Xbox One and PC, “Call of Duty : Warzone 2.0” was launched in 2023 and was labeled as the “ultimate beast” of the COD Series within a few months of its release.
As a sequel to the original Warzone, “Call of Duty : Warzone 2.0” involved updated movements, new exciting maps and brand-new vehicles. While the game was praised for its immersive storyline, dynamic events, realistic graphics, character depth and thrilling audio effects, it was also considered to be a beast for a new “Al Mazrah” map which offered a wide gaming environment to the gamers that spanned from modern cities to wild locations.
Moreover, the cross-platform play allowed the gamers on different PCs and consoles to play together. Furthermore, integrated with “Modern Warfare 2” allowed the users to witness a seamless integration of sharing weapons, progression systems and operators across both games. With next-gen consoles and a deep-seated presence in the Esports arena, Warzone 2.0 elevated Call of Duty’s stature to an unparalleled prominence.
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Call of Duty : Black Ops
“Call of Duty : Black Ops”, released in 2010 by Treyarch is often hailed as one of the most popular original games ever launched by the Call of Duty franchise. As the seventh edition in the COD Series, “Black Ops”, was set in the 1960s during the First World War era and featured a wide range of locations including the Soviet Union, the United States, South Vietnam, Canada, China, Cuba and Laos.
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In addition to the immersive storyline, the dynamic characters like Alex Manson, Viktor Reznov and Frank Woods played a major role in making “Black Ops” a huge hit in the gaming community worldwide.
Also, in addition to the multiplayer mode and exciting streak kill rewards, the game also offered new game modes like “One in the Chamber” and “Gun Game”, which allowed the players to unlock a whole new gaming and shooting experience. Moreover, the COD in-game purchases and customised load-outs further solidified the legacy of the series among the COD fans.
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Call of Duty : WWII
Exclusively based in the World War II setting, the fourteenth edition of the CODSeries “Call of Duty : WWII” was officially released in 2017 for Windows, Xbox One and PlayStation 4. From lethal weapons to realistic recreation of the historic battlegrounds, “Call of Duty : WWII” provided an extremely immersive gaming experience for the players who took on the role of a young soldier named “Ronald Red Daniel” who assists his squad “1st Infantry Division” in the Warzone combat.
Additionally, the WWII series of COD provided players with a more intense zombie-mode as compared to the previous editions of the game. Furthermore, the realistic sound effects, immersion graphics, balanced mechanics, smooth transition and the new “headquarters mode” made WWII one of the most popular COD Series.
