20 Years Ago, Call Of Duty Had Its Breakthrough Moment
Storming the console battlefield.
It might be difficult for the younger, no scoping-whippersnappers on the internet to believe, but there was a time when “Call of Duty” wasn’t synonymous with first-person shooters. The series’ 2003 debut was a relative success for then-freshman developer Infinity Ward, offering a quality alternative to the waning popularity of EA’s Medal of Honor series and the glut of other middling WWII shooters, but it didn’t rewire the entire industry.
The first game spawned a handful of decent PC expansions and console spin-offs, but without the hardware to replicate the PC experience, those playing with controllers wouldn’t understand what made this new brand of gritty, historical shooter so gripping. That changed in Fall 2005, when Call of Duty 2 hit PCs and consoles. It was the success story people expected it to be on PC, but its place among the Xbox 360’s launch titles catapulted the franchise to new heights.
Call of Duty 2 tells three different stories following the Soviet, American, and British armies during history’s most infamous conflict. The campaign is a whopping 27 missions long, representative of a time when the single-player component of first-person shooters was a big part of the total package.
As a follow-up, Call of Duty 2 is as perfect as sequels get. It takes the first game’s wartime action and makes it bigger, louder, and more visually arresting. With more soldiers and projectiles on-screen, there was a constant sense that this was a real conflict where danger lurked everywhere. Gaming had been trying to emulate Saving Private Ryan’s infamous opening scene since Medal of Honor’s debut in 1999. With Call of Duty 2, the medium finally accomplished its lofty goal.
A big part of what made the first Call of Duty so enduring on PC was its multiplayer, a mode so popular it was featured on The Office. Naturally, its sequel came out swinging, doubling the number of players in matches from 32 to 64. There was no progression to hook players here; people were jumping in for the sheer fun of it. When the sequel arrived, Call of Duty 2 was the year’s biggest PC shooter, easily living up to the original’s reputation. Then, just a few weeks later, it was an Xbox 360 launch title.
Captain Price was the British commander in Call of Duty 2 long before he was featured in Modern Warfare.
It can’t be understated how critical Microsoft’s sophomore console was in Call of Duty’s mainstream success. Launching a year before the competition, the Xbox 360 was the public’s first glimpse at the next console generation. It was powerful hardware capable of rendering high definition resolutions out of the box. Xbox Live was the best online service in gaming. And with a year’s head start, it was the only place players could get this kind of experience. The console felt like it was ushering in a new era, and Call of Duty 2 was its centerpiece.
Call of Duty 2 on Xbox 360 stood toe-to-toe with its PC counterpart. It wasn’t compromised visually, nor was any content cut to save space. This was the full Call of Duty experience for televisions, allowing those lucky enough to own an HD display and the new console to understand why the first game earned as many accolades as it did.
Sales reflected this revelation. The game was the Xbox 360’s most popular launch title, selling 200,000 copies in its first week. According to Circana’s (formerly NPD) sales figures, 77% of Xbox 360’s earliest adopters purchased a copy of Call of Duty to see what the hubbub was about.
Call of Duty 2 was the Xbox 360 launch game.
Microsoft was so instrumental in Call of Duty’s breakthrough that it played a role in the subsequent partnership between the tech giant and the game’s publisher. For years, downloadable maps for annual Call of Duty releases were timed exclusives on Xbox 360, making it the best platform for diehard fans. Nearly 20 years later, Microsoft would acquire the series’ publisher and developer outright for an eye-watering $75 billion.
Call of Duty pushed the genre forward and was a success from the word go. But without Call of Duty 2 making such a large splash as a system-selling title, its takeover of the industry would have been delayed, maybe even snuffed out. Call of Duty 2 helped propel the franchise from PC darling to the industry-wide juggernaut it is today, making it the most important game in a series that now barely resembles it.
