On October 29, 2003, the Call of Duty franchise was officially born with the release of the series’ first game. And while a World War II shooter wasn’t the most groundbreaking idea the gaming world had ever seen, it’s undeniable that what COD eventually became changed the industry forever.
Unless you’re an old man like me, you don’t know a world without killstreaks, online lobbies, and yearly COD releases. Without this heater showing up in 2003, it’s not that crazy to say that nothing about modern gaming would be the same.
Is that a good thing? Is that a bad thing? Well, it’s complicated. Let’s explore.
“This game ups the ante in the WWII shooter arena…”
When the first Call of Duty launched, critics absolutely ate it up. The game sits at a 91 on Metacritic, for good reason, and has tons of reviews that stand out 22 years later. For example, back in 2003, Computer Games Magazine wrote:
“This game ups the ante in the WWII shooter arena, and makes everything that has come before it seem as outdated as France’s army.”
IGN’s Dan Adams had this to say about the game:
“You have to love a game that glues you to your seat and keeps you interested… A thrilling piece of software that action fans should grab a hold of and love fiercely.”
The folks at GameSpot had lots of positive things to say about the game, too:
“Most anyone who plays games would more than likely be very impressed with Call of Duty’s authentic presentation, well-designed and often very intense single-player missions, and fast-paced, entertaining multiplayer modes.”
Remember, at the time, first-person shooters were really starting to take off. Halo: Combat Evolved had just made the Xbox relevant 2 years prior. And, of course, Medal of Honor was already a household name with gamers (more on that title later).
But COD came at the FPS genre from a completely different angle. And if you combine that approach with the massive leap in graphics that was happening at the time, you have the birth of something special.
A literal game changer, if you will.
Call of Duty Releases in 2003—and A Video Game Juggernaut Is Born
Call of Duty’s incredible campaign took a bit of a risk, especially in how the story was formatted. Instead of playing as a single soldier from a single army, players would switch perspectives between American, British, and Soviet soldiers.
That could have backfired tremendously, but it didn’t. And we have the gaming world that we live in today because of it.
You can’t talk about the first COD without mentioning that the tech behind the game was mind-blowing in 2003. The AI was intelligent, the gameplay was fun, and the story captivated anyone who fired it up. It was the perfect recipe for success, and the team at Infinity Ward nailed it.
Yeah, the multiplayer wasn’t what COD would eventually become. But, for 2003 standards, it was everything that it needed to be. That’s why, by the end of its first year, the game had sold around 4.5 million copies.
Keep in mind that Infinity Ward was a brand-new studio at the time. That team was made up of people who had previously worked on Medal of Honor, but still, they were unproven. It didn’t take long after the release of COD for the industry to know that Infinity Ward was here to stay, though.
Twenty Years and $30 Billion Later…
Fast-forward to 2025, and Infinity Ward and the COD franchise have sold over 500 million copies worldwide. They’ve grossed more than $30 billion, making them officially the best-selling first-person shooter franchise of all time, according to Guinness World Records.
The franchise is, arguably, the most influential gaming property of all time. Everything from yearly releases to streamers and esports teams building their careers around COD all have the first game’s 2003 release to thank for their relevance.
Sure, all of those things might not be the best thing for the franchise or gaming in general. But it’s the reality we live in, and the reality that one sort of game created. So, let’s all sing happy birthday to Call of Duty. Thank you for all the memories—both good and bad.
And, heads up, we’ll be billing you soon for all of the broken controllers over the years.
The post On This Day in 2003, the Video Game Franchise That Changed Modern Gaming Was Officially Born appeared first on VICE.
