Call of Duty: How Has the Franchise Evolved

Call of  Duty as a franchise has come a long way in the last 20 years. Originating from some of the team that had previously developed Medal of Honor, the first-person shooter has become a mainstay of online play, but it's now grown into a completely different realm with the growth of Call of Duty betting in terms of Esports - so how did we get here?

Just Another Shooter in 2003

In October 2003, nobody would have known just what a game they had on their hands.  Infinity Ward and Activision were releasing a new first-person shooter, but their scope was somewhat limited. The game was, however, innovative for its emulation of military combat. Prior games in the genre had placed players as ‘lone wolves’ where they’d complete tasks and objectives by themselves, unlike real war situations.

The original Call of Duty embedded computer-controlled players who worked alongside the player during the campaign, giving the user a more authentic feeling that they were in the trenches with their compatriots. At this stage it really was just a story-based game and the idea that one day we would have companies battling to be among the best Call of Duty betting sites was absurd. That would all change with online play however....

Call of Duty 2 Was the First with Online Play

Cast your mind back to 2005. The world was more straightforward, with less political tension and less turgid online media set to divide one another. It was also when online play became a reality for console users. The original Xbox had it built in, whereas PlayStation 2 users had to buy a hardware adapter to enable online play.

Call of Duty 2 did not lag as it launched online play, supporting up to eight players on Xbox games! However, PlayStation users had to wait until 2006 when Call of Duty 3 supported online play for Sony’s console.

Why is Call of Duty so Popular?

Before digital downloads were as popular as they are now, it was common to see large queues of gamers outside video game shops at midnight on a release night, eagerly awaiting to buy the latest release as soon as possible. Why does COD command this type of popularity?

Critics and video game journalists have long applauded the series for consistently keeping up with technological developments to keep the games fresh and appealing. This includes the graphical output, which always puts the player into a profoundly immersive experience, making them feel like they are in a military operation.

When considering the online capabilities, COD was one of the pioneers of the shooter multiplayer experience. It offered incentives to play, like ranking up, titles and the ability to join other players in clans. While other games have accelerated these processes and features, COD was among the first to offer them, meaning that many gamers still respect the title.

Matchmaking Offers Elite Competition

Everyone knows that the best online games can match up players so that all abilities can play somewhat fairly. That means putting players of similar quality up against one another and balancing teams so each party can win. Call of Duty and all its subsequent editions have excelled at this during their online journey, as their thorough ranking system rates players and ensures that intriguing matchups are created.

Many games still struggle to do this, leading to an awful amount of mismatches, which can cause players to disengage with the online experience and maybe even the game as a whole. Given that Modern Warfare is still one of the most played games, it is clear that the software behind the game can foster competitive matches that users want to play.

Did Online Play Destroy Story Mode?

When Call of Duty first came out in 2003, the focus was the story mode. This mode is commonly known as ‘campaign’ or ‘offline’ in the COD world. It’s seen as a secondary software usage today, as online multiplayer takes precedence.  Some reports state that around 50% of all COD players will avoid the offline experience altogether, while the other half will only play through the campaign once.

However, this isn’t just a problem for the Call of Duty series. Many video games now focus on online elements, and some are released as online-only titles, offering no offline playability. Story modes now have to be long and immersive titles, like Red Dead Redemption 2, which bucks the trend as being one of the most played video games despite being primarily an offline game.

Will this change in upcoming titles? Well, in 2024, it has been reported that the campaign will have radical new changes for subsequent releases. This includes plans to make the campaign mode more in tune with the online modes, as players will need to team up to complete objectives in an ‘open world’ style campaign system.

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