The Call of Duty franchise has been ingrained in popular discourse since its inception in 2003, and it has produced one of the most devoted and die-hard fan bases in the entire gaming community. The Call of Duty franchise itself is the best-selling first-person shooter video game series, reaching that milestone with over 400 million games sold by 2021. In the years since that achievement, sales numbers have continued to grow, and the enjoyment that players have with the series remains.

The series as a whole has enjoyed quite a bit of success, with each separate title seeing its own varying levels of triumph. CoD currently has 24 games in its main series lineup, with an astonishing 52 titles when all DLC and mobile games are added to that list, as of September 2024. Each game with CoD in its title has sold many copies for various platforms. Here are the top-selling games in the franchise, with the most recent data available at the time of writing.

15 Call Of Duty 3

Over 7 Million Copies Sold

The third entry in the Call of Duty franchise came right before the series really started to take off. Developed by Treyarch and published by Activision, Call of Duty 3 sold over seven million copies, more than double the sales of its predecessor. The game was a launch title on the PS3, and featured advanced graphics for its time.

Call of Duty 3 had some of the franchise's staple features, including the gritty historical war setting. Although it had a multiplayer mode, CoD 3 had a robust single-player campaign that fans could play from the point of view of an American, British, Canadian, or Polish soldier on the Western front of World War 2.

14 Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022)

Over 8 Million Copies Sold In Launch Week

When Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was released in 2022, it became the fastest selling CoD game to date. Within a week of its launch, the game earned over $1 billion USD and became the best-selling game of that year. The exact number of copies sold to date is not readily available, but the game officially sold more than eight million copies in just the first week that it was out.

The game continued the rebooted story of 2019's Modern Warfare. This means that there are now not one, but two chart-topping games called Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The game introduced more advanced AI in the campaigns and co-op mode and added a few new mechanics and gameplay modes to keep the series fresh.

Considering its immense launch-week success, 2022's MW2 would likely be much further up the list of best-selling Call of Duty titles if more up-to-date sales data was available.

13 Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (2016)

Over 12 Million Copies Sold

This title in the Call of Duty franchise takes players to outer space. Players step into the shoes of Lieutenant Nick Reyes and are tasked with defending the Solar System from the Settlement Defense Front (SDF). When it was announced, fans were frustrated and disappointed at the sci-fi direction that the series took with this title. Despite this, CoD: Infinite Warfare sold well and gained popularity once it was actually released, especially for its Zombies mode.

12 Call of Duty: World At War (2008)

Over 17 Million Copies Sold

Call of Duty: World at War thrust players back into World War 2, focusing on the Pacific and Eastern fronts. The game used the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare game engine and featured gritty fighting, enhanced gameplay, and detailed character models. World at War was well received for its realistic fighting, and eventually launched another best-selling arm of the franchise, Black Ops. It also debuted the beloved Zombies mode. CoD: World at War has sold over 17 million copies since its 2008 release.

11 Call Of Duty: WWII (2017)

Over 19 Million Copies Sold

Call of Duty: WWII was released on November 3, 2017, and is the second title to be set in World War II, following World at War in 2008. This game had all the standard game modes that fans usually enjoy, like a campaign and multiplayer online. It also had a rendition of Nazi zombies with an intricate plot that was more than just surviving as many rounds as possible. As of October 2019, the game had sold 19.82 million copies (per Statista); a number which has most certainly risen in the last few years.

10 Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare (2014)

Over 21 Million Copies Sold

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare was released on November 4, 2014, as the 11th major installment in the video game franchise. As of October 2019, the game had sold 21.78 million copies. One difference about this game was its campaign only had one playable character, as opposed to previous games that would weave their story around multiple playable characters. This appealed to some players who wanted a more linear story.

9 Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009)

Over 25 Million Copies Sold

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 from 2009 is one of the most popular first-person shooter games ever. It was officially released on November 10, 2009, and gave fans some of the most iconic moments in the franchise. The campaign was loved, as Ghost's death is still one of the most heart-wrenching moments in gaming history. The thought and effort that went into the story of the campaign was appreciated by fans, which was shown in the sale numbers.

It also gave fans iconic maps like Terminal and Rust. It is still up for debate whether the 2022 remake is as good as the original, but both are unconditionally loved by the fan base. As of October 2019, 25.02 copies of the 2009 game have been sold.

8 Call Of Duty: Black Ops 3 (2015)

Over 26 Million Copies Sold

Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 was released on November 5, 2015, as the 12th major release in the history of the franchise. One of the biggest draws to this game was the fact that the entire campaign can be played in co-op. Friends can complete the campaign missions together, which likely helped contribute to its sales.

There is a mode that players can unlock that replaces all the enemies in the campaign with zombies, which is the first time this was ever done. Although certain achievements are difficult to unlock, fans of the previous Black Ops installments were overall pleased with this game. In 2019, a reported 26.72 copies of CoD: Black Ops 3 had been sold.

7 Call Of Duty: Ghosts (2013)

Over 28 Million Copies Sold

Call of Duty: Ghosts is the 10th major installment in the series and was officially released on November 5, 2013. Ghosts came right after the very popular Black Ops 2, so fans were primed to buy anything Call of Duty released at the time of Ghosts' launch. That game introduced some new concepts, like being able to play as a German Shepherd in the campaign, but fans were also slightly disappointed with its recycled use of the campaign's format and structure.

Ghosts did a new game mode called Extinction, which saw the player fight alien creatures and most likely helped drive up sales. By 2019, CoD: Ghosts had reported 28.8 million sales, only slightly less than Black Ops 2.

6 Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2 (2012)

Over 29 Million Copies Sold

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 serves as one of the most successful sequels in the series. It was released on November 12, 2012, and was nearly as successful as the first Black Ops game. Fans got to play the same two protagonists as had appeared in the first Black Ops, as well as the son of one of the playable characters. Black Ops 2 was the first Call of Duty game for the Nintendo Wii U, which helped sales a bit, but the game was primarily played on PlayStation and Xbox platforms. As of 2019, CoD: Black Ops II had seen 29.59 million copies sold.