Play Order (Release)Recommended
0 / 23 playedMainline releases grouped by era. Play one group straight through.
World War II era
- 1 Call of Duty WWII origins. 2003 Infinity Ward debut.
- 2 Call of Duty 2 European theater sequel.
- 3 Call of Duty 3 Normandy campaign. Treyarch assist.
- 14 Call of Duty: WWII Back to WWII with Sledgehammer.
Original Modern Warfare
- 4 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Price and Soap debut. Modern turn.
- 6 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Task Force 141 vs Makarov.
- 8 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Closes the original MW trilogy.
Black Ops saga
- 5 Call of Duty: World at War Pacific theater with Mason intro.
- 7 Call of Duty: Black Ops Mason and Woods in Vietnam and 1968.
- 9 Call of Duty: Black Ops II 1980s and 2025 Menendez plot.
- 12 Call of Duty: Black Ops III 2065 cybernetics story.
- 15 Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Multiplayer and Blackout only. No campaign.
Standalone future
- 10 Call of Duty: Ghosts Ghosts standalone future war.
- 11 Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Exo suits and Atlas. Standalone.
- 13 Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare Space warfare spinoff.
Reboot era
- 16 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) Reboot with new Task Force 141.
- 17 Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Bridge between BO1 and the reboot.
- 18 Call of Duty: Vanguard Alternate WWII vanguard unit.
- 19 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II Reboot sequel with Ghost and Soap.
- 20 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III Closes the reboot MW trilogy.
- 21 Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Gulf War era Black Ops return.
- 22 Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Latest Black Ops entry. Check edition before buying.
- 23 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Dated October 23, 2026. Korea invasion campaign.
About Call of Duty
Call of Duty splits into blocks that rarely share story. The World War II block runs Call of Duty in 2003 through Call of Duty 3 in 2006. The original Modern Warfare trilogy runs 2007 to 2011 with Price and Soap, while the reboot trilogy runs Modern Warfare 2019, Modern Warfare II 2022 and Modern Warfare III 2023 with a new Task Force 141. The Black Ops branch weaves Vietnam, Cold War and near-future Menendez arcs.
Later entries Vanguard in 2021, Black Ops 6 in 2024 and Black Ops 7 in 2025 keep the yearly cycle, with Modern Warfare 4 dated October 23, 2026 on PS5, Xbox Series and PC. New players should pick one block and finish it, since cross-block continuity is thin outside Warzone. Release order inside each block is story order.
Good to know
Play by block, not straight through all twenty plus games. Start with either Modern Warfare branch for the tightest campaigns, or Black Ops in release order for the Mason and Woods saga. Black Ops 4 has no campaign and works as multiplayer only. Warzone ties the reboot era together but is free to play and optional. Modern Warfare 4 launches October 23, 2026, so treat the list end as moving until that date passes.
