With a new Call of Duty right around the corner— as it has been at this time of year every year since 2005— fans have begun wondering what we will see from the seventeenth title in the overall series that will set it apart from the others. From its first installment in 2003, the CoD franchise quickly established itself as one of gaming's premiere FPS brands, and it's been a consistent staple in the online multiplayer space for nearly 15 years now.
While many companies have created installments in the series, Treyarch and Infinity Ward have been the two biggest and most constant developers of the franchise. While both companies' creations are very similar, each developer has gained its own dedicated following. There's no clear choice when it comes to which team makes the best CoD games, but each definitely excels over the other in specific areas.
10 Most Influential Title: Infinity Ward
Although Call of Duty has been one of the top-selling games every year for over a decade now, no game in the franchise has been as influential as Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. While PC gamers had been able to play online for some time, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 helped bring competitive shooters to the forefront of console gaming.
Additionally, the title was the first in the franchise to incorporate aim down sites, sprinting, and killstreaks, which are still pillars of the genre today. If that was not enough, Infinity Ward's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4's instant success caused almost every company creating a historical first-person shooter to shift focus to modern military combat.
9 Better Zombies Mode: Treyarch
While Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer have included Zombies modes in their titles, neither developer's take on the game mode compares to Treyarch's interpretation. The other companies have created fun experiences, but the original series has been able to create a fan base that purchases Call of Duty solely for the complex story tucked beneath Trayarch's endless waves of the undead.
Unlike the other series' main zombies mode protagonists, Richtofen, Nikai, Dempsey, and Takeo are about as memorable as the single-player leads of any Call of Duty campaign.
8 Better Campaigns: Infinity Ward
Although Call of Duty: Black Ops is arguably the best single campaign in the entire franchise, Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare sub-series defines the developer as Activision's best Call of Duty storytellers. While Infinity Ward has created some lackluster installments, specifically Ghost and Infinite Warfare, Treyarch's last title did not even bother to add a campaign.
Although Infinity Ward had struggled in recent years, the reboot Call of Duty: Modern Warfare showed the company still able to push out a story worthy of the Call of Duty name.
7 Smoother Gameplay: Treyarch
Many people that do not play Call of Duty consistently may not notice a difference between the two companies in terms of gameplay. However, Treyarch and Infinity Ward games control quite differently. Although the two companies work off of the same foundation, Treyarch titles are faster-paced, smoother, and more arcade-like, while Infinity Ward titles tend to lean toward realism.
Treyarch's Black Ops titles are the best CoD games when it comes to fluid gameplay. When it comes down to the nitty-gritty, Treyarch's faster gameplay is just a more enjoyable experience.
6 Best Battle Royale: Infinity Ward
In Black Ops 4, Treyarch introduced gamers to a Call of Duty battle royale, which is basically a requirement in a shooter these days. While the game was initially loved, it ultimately left much to be desired. With Infinity Ward having the benefit of extra time to implement their take on the subgenre, Warzone quickly became one of the best battle royales on the market.
Many of the staples from Blackout were there at the launch of Warzone. However, the introduction of missions, loadouts, and a purchase system helped the game surpass its predecessor. Furthermore, Warzone incorporated crossplay, and unlike Blackout, it is free-to-play.
5 More Cohesive Approach To Multiplayer Map Design: Treyarch
Throughout the early Modern Warfare titles, Infinity Ward created some of the best maps in the franchise. Terminal, Crash, and Highrise, all Infinity Ward maps, are some of the best-loved in the franchise. The problem is that Infinity Ward has also been responsible for a lot of the more forgettable CoD maps, thus bringing down their overall average in this match-up.
Although no one specific Treyarch map is necessarily a fan favorite, the company's three-lane system has set the standard for the series. With it, players are able to know the basic layout before they even play the map, leading to more consistently solid maps from the company overall.
4 More Memorable Campaign Characters: Infinity Ward
Except for the Zombies Mode leads, Treyarch has fallen short in creating memorable characters for the series. Besides Woods, Alex Mason, and David Mason, the Black Ops' series leads are forgettable. Throughout the first three Modern Warfare titles, however, Infinity Ward created the majority of the Call of Duty characters that are still talked about today.
Although the last game in the trilogy is nine years old, fans of the games can name several key characters and moments from the set of games. Captain Price, Soap, Ghost, Sheperd, Makarov, Nikolai, Zakhaev and Roach are just a few of the memorable figures in the Modern Warfare series.
3 More Willingness To Evolve: Treyarch
When Sledgehammer released Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, the title breathed new life into the series. Before 2014, Activision was heavily criticized for releasing the same basic CoD game each year. Taking notes from Sledgehammer's success, post-Advanced Warfare Treyarch titles diverged from the status-quo.
While many of the things Treyarch has implemented, like the use of specialist operators, have been fazed out of the series, its attempts to shake things up has helped the company stand out— while Infinity Ward prefers to play it safe and not take as many creative risks, for worse or better.
2 Best Visuals: Infinity Ward
One thing that has always differentiated the two franchises were the visual tones. Throughout the Black Ops series, Treyarch's more stylized aesthetics has led to a brighter and more vibrant look. While this does not make the game look bad by any means, Infinity Ward's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare's darker tone has led to an exceptionally beautiful setting.
Granted, there is rarely a Call of Duty release that isn't one of the best-looking games available at the time it comes out, but there's just something about Infinity Ward's games that seem to have a better overall visual polish.
1 Better Overall Multiplayer: Treyarch
Over the past few games, Treyarch has taken fans from the Cold War to fiction wars set in the near future. Although Treyarch has added far more features throughout the past console generation than any other developer in the series, like Black Ops 3's wall-running, each of the company's titles have been able to reach the same level of quality as the last.
This, however, can not be said for Infinity Ward. For every Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, there is a Call of Duty: Ghost, a game with a disappointing multiplayer mode to cancel out one of the developer's great multiplayer experiences.