Back in 2007, the online gaming world was being dominated by the Halo series. Halo 3 was tearing up the Xbox Live charts with ease. It seemed as if nothing could dethrone the king of Xbox Live. Then, Call of Duty reinvented itself and took Xbox Live, Playstation Network, and the world by storm with the release of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

 

Yearly totals showed that Halo 3 continued to be the most played game on Xbox Live for the years of 2007, 2008, and 2009. However, Call of Duty 4, World at War, and Modern Warfare 2 were always close behind. In 2010, Black Ops took the number one spot as the most played game on Xbox Live. It also released at the very end of the year beating out Halo Reach, which released about a month and a half prior. In 2011, Call of Duty took the top three spots. Black Ops on top followed by both Modern Warfare 2 and 3. Call of Duty 4 and World at War hung around in the Top 20 as well. The juggernaut is at full strength right now.

 

The series’ reach goes even further than toping most played charts by setting sales records year after year. Modern Warfare 2 became the highest grossing entertainment release in history. A year later, Black Ops would gross even more. Another year later, Modern Warfare 3 does it yet again. How can one series take control of the entire entertainment industry for three years in a row?

 

 

-Modern Warfare

Call of Duty 4 marked a significant change for the series. Previous games in the series focused on battles fought during World War II. For the fourth installment, Infinity Ward elected to create a fictional conflict in the present day. Bringing the series into the present day gave players a much more personal bond with the world of the game. Images depicted in the game closely resembled footage of war anyone could see on the news that night. The game looked real, sounded real, and felt real. Using real locations and weapons gave a sense of familiarity that a game based on World War 2 or a futuristic world like Halo could not give.