Do all Call of Duty games take place in the same universe?
No – despite taking place in the same physical reality, the various sub-series and titles in the massive COD franchise generally have their own separate storylines and continuities. But some titles are directly connected, and the lines may blur more in the future.
The Major COD Universes
Let‘s break down the major settings and worlds that players have explored across different Call of Duty games:
The Modern Warfare Universe
- Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019 reboot)
This sub-series, developed by Infinity Ward, established the most famous COD continuity starring characters like Captain Price across a trilogy of contemporary warfare settings. The soft reboot in 2019 continued this universe with returning characters and a new story in the same reality.
The Black Ops Universe
- Call of Duty: World at War
- Call of Duty: Black Ops
- Call of Duty: Black Ops II
- Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
As created by developer Treyarch, this series jumps around the Cold War era telling connected stories from World War 2 through the 1980s. Fan-favorite characters like Alex Mason, Frank Woods and Jason Hudson anchor the different chapters together.
The WWII Universe
- Call of Duty 1
- Call of Duty 2
- Call of Duty 3
- Call of Duty: WWII
Sledgehammer Games crafted two period COD titles grounded in the European and North African theaters of World War 2, with American soldier Ronald "Red" Daniels protagonist across both. The early trilogy of WWII titles feature different standalone stories.
One-Off Universes
Other COD games like Ghosts, Advanced Warfare and Infinite Warfare launched their own unique continuities and futures unconnected from other titles. They each tell self-contained stories with no overt ties to pre-existing characters or timelines.
So while all these games technically exist within the same physical reality on Earth, their stories were crafted intentionally discrete by the teams that developed them.
Connected Through Warzone
Despite largely separate universes, the smash hit live service game Call of Duty: Warzone has become the glue uniting different COD worlds.
Launching first alongside Modern Warfare (2019), operators, weapons, and story events crossed over between the two titles. With Black Ops Cold War in 2020 and Vanguard in 2021, Warzone continued this trend of tying different COD sub-series together through in-game events known as "seasons".
For example, the Operation Monarch event in May 2022 brought Godzilla and King Kong into battle across Warzone maps, representing the first crossover between Black Ops and original Modern Warfare characters:
| COD Universe | Characters in Operation Monarch |
|---|---|
| Modern Warfare | Captain Price, Ghost. Gaz, Soap, Kyle Garrick |
| Black Ops | Stitch, Naga, Wraith, Bulldozer |
Events like this represent a slight fusing of fictional universes rarely seen before. Warzone‘s nature as live service binding together multiple COD sub-series has unified character rosters and in-game cosmetic items in a shared experience.
While storylines remain separate, Warzone offers players the chance to see different COD heroes and villains interact in new ways.
Analysis: Will Universes Continue Crossing Over?
As a passionate, long-time COD gamer myself, I love seeing these universes collide in fresh ways.
Franchise revenue data shows players respond well to crossover events:
- Warzone made $2 billion in revenue its first year across Modern Warfare and Cold War
- Hype around Vanguard saw 100 million Warzone installs in 12 months after its release
This represents some of Activision‘s highest earning years. And story integration across different sub-series has strengthened player investment according to developers:
"Warzone will be the through line that connects all of the different various subfranchises in the Call of Duty universe together" – Activision President Daniel Alegre
So while plots remain fundamentally separate, economics may necessitate some continuity across Modern Warfare, Black Ops, Vanguard and any future titles. Warzone especially creates opportunity for more narrative and character blending fans rarely dreamed of before.
As an invested player myself, I hope to see this crossover continue expanding in ambitious new ways. Events like Operation Monarch show the potential when different COD legends team up against epic threats. And unified continuity both in Warzone gameplay and seasonal stories would only help strengthen player engagement across different fan bases.
The realities may still be compartmentalized, but the walls separating them seem to be slowly breaking down more over time. Soon we may finally live in a world where Captain Price and Frank Woods battle side-by-side as canon.
