Watching the Call of Duty: Black Ops series in timeline order is much more complex. The series' timeline spans different historical periods, various alternate timelines, and even delves into the future. To help you make sense of it all, we've compiled the following list of Call of Duty games in chronological order, along with a brief overview of each game. Almost all of these games are available on Xbox, and together they offer a total of 29,385G in achievements (even more if you play multiple cross-gen versions).
Call of Duty: WWII (1940 - 1945)
Call of Duty 2 (1941 - 1945)
Call of Duty: Vanguard (1941 - 1945)
Call of Duty (1942 - 1945)
Call of Duty: Finest Hour (1942 - 1945)
Call of Duty 2: Big Red One (1942 - 1944)
Call of Duty: World at War (1942 - 1945)
Call of Duty 3 (1944)
Call of Duty: Black Ops (1961 - 1968)
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (1981)
Call of Duty: Black Ops II (1986 - 1989, also involves 2025)
Call of Duty: Black Ops VI (1991)
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (1996 - 2011)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (1999 - 2019)
Call of Duty: Ghosts (2015-2027)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2016)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2016-2017)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023)
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (2043)
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (2054 - 2061)
Call of Duty: Black Ops III (2065 - 2070)
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (2187)
How to Experience Call of Duty: Black Ops in Timeline Order
9. Call of Duty: Black Ops (1961 - 1968)
Release Date: November 9, 2010
Developer: Treyarch
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PC, Mac
Jumping 15 years after the end of World War II to the mid-Cold War, Call of Duty: Black Ops takes us into a spy thriller world quite different from most Call of Duty stories. The game opens in 1968 with Alex Mason being interrogated by an unknown force, with most of the game presented as his flashbacks, kicking off with the opening mission set in 1961.
10. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (1981)
Release Date: November 13, 2020
Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, PC
We are now fully in the Cold War era. In 1981, the Soviet Union is the adversary of the United States. A Soviet agent codenamed Perseus is trying to destabilize the world, and you need to stop him... unless you don't want to.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is different from other Call of Duty games because its campaign has multiple endings, depending on the player's choices during missions. You can choose to thwart the Soviet conspiracy or ensure it happens. There are also gameplay advantages to choose from, making Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War a bit of a mini-RPG experience.
19. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (2043)
Release Date: October 12, 2018
Developer: Treyarch
Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, PC
Ah, yes, this Call of Duty angered many for not including a single-player campaign. Instead, we experience the story through three multiplayer modes: Multiplayer, Zombies, and the all-new Blackout mode, which is the precursor to today's very popular Warzone.
There is a series of tutorial missions at the Special Ops Headquarters, set in 2043, and the Blackout itself, a battle royale-style multiplayer, vaguely takes place sometime after the 2040s.
21. Call of Duty: Black Ops III (2065 - 2070)
Release Date: November 6, 2015
Developer: Treyarch
Platforms: Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, PS3, PC, Mac
Call of Duty: Black Ops III is a direct sequel to Black Ops II, despite the 40-year time jump. Set between 2065 and 2070, the game shows the consequences of the world after the 2025 drone attacks. Since then, ground combat has come back into focus, with cyborg-enhanced soldiers and robots dominating the battlefield.
This time, we are an unnamed protagonist whose arm is torn off by a Grunt combat robot in the opening mission. Fortunately, it's the future, and we can get some cool robotic arms. From there, we jump to 2070 and find ourselves caught in the Third Cold War between two superpowers—the Winslow Accord and the Common Defense Pact.