Call of Duty · Chapter A · 2003–2006 · WWII originals · 1 min read
2003: The Franchise Starts in World War II
Infinity Ward's debut replaced the lone-wolf shooter with the chaos of a squad at war — and started a twenty-three-year run.
In this Vault
- Chapter A — 2003: The Franchise Starts in World War II
- Chapter B — The Modern Warfare Revolution
- Chapter C — Black Ops: Eras, Themes and Continuity
- Chapter D — The Zombies Evolution
- Chapter E — Multiplayer Through the Generations
- Chapter F — The Weapons and Iconic Maps
- Chapter G — Warzone, DMZ and the Live-Service Era
- Chapter H — The Studios, Esports, Controversies and the Machine
- Chapter I — MW4: The Launch Briefing
Call of Duty arrived in 2003 from Infinity Ward, a studio founded by veterans of Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. The pitch was a rejection of the one-man-army shooter: the player was one soldier inside a larger war, advancing alongside AI squadmates through the American, British and Soviet campaigns of World War II.
The design language was new — iron-sight aiming, health that punished standing in the open, artillery that shook the screen and the camera. Call of Duty 2 (2005) became the Xbox 360's defining launch shooter, dropping health packs for regenerating health behind cover, a choice the whole genre would copy for a decade. Call of Duty 3 (2006), from Treyarch, carried the WWII setting onto new consoles and into the series' alternating-studio rhythm.
Three games in, the formula was proven: cinematic set-pieces, grounded infantry combat, and a multiplayer mode growing quietly in the background. What happened next in 2007 would not be quiet at all.
Sources
- Previously Vault timeline record (Wikipedia series table, cross-checked against Cheat Code Central and esports.gg release-order lists)
- Previously game catalog records, 2003–2006