The Evolution of Call of Duty Multiplayer Through the Years

For nearly two decades, Call of Duty has reigned as one of the most popular first-person shooter franchises in gaming. A huge part of that success comes from its polished multiplayer modes. Let’s examine how Call of Duty multiplayer has evolved through the years and some of its most influential innovations.

The Early Days – Killstreaks and Unlocks

The original Call of Duty multiplayer experience back in 2003 was fairly barebones compared to what would come later. But Infinity Ward hit on a winning formula from the start with tight shooting mechanics and map designs. Things really kicked into high gear with 2007’s Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

The introduction of multiplayer killstreak rewards proved massively influential. Getting kills without dying would let you call in powerful advantages like UAV reconnaissance, helicopter support, and the infamous nuke. This killstreak system drove players to improve and helped make each match feel more rewarding.

Modern Warfare also popularized a deep multiplayer progression system with tons of weapon and ability unlocks. Leveling up through matches unlocked new gear to customize your loadout. Players always had a new carrot to chase after to gain an edge.

Competitive Play and Esports – Black Ops and Beyond

Competitive Call of Duty play traces its roots back to 2005 with tournaments hosted online and at events like MLG. However, it wasn’t until 2010’s Call of Duty: Black Ops that developer Treyarch put a big focus on supporting competitive play.

League play matched players of similar skill together. The robust theater mode allowed recording matches from all angles to study tactics and strategies. Improved spectator modes let viewers watch high-level matches. All of these tools helped Call of Duty esports emerge into a booming scene.

Successive games continued improving competitive features. Black Ops 2 refined the pick 10 create-a-class system that allowed nearly endless loadout combinations. Players could finely tune to their playstyle and team role. Modern Warfare (2019) recently overhauled multiplayer with a 2v2 Gunfight mode perfect for intense esports competitions.

Killstreaks Get More Complex

The killstreak system first introduced in Call of Duty 4 evolved in complexity over sequels. Black Ops 2 first implemented scorestreaks – rewarding objectives completed rather than just kills. Players were encouraged to go after objectives like capturing zones.

Killstreaks also grew in scale to include controllable aerial assault drones, EMP disruptions, and more ways to demolish the opposition provided you could stay alive. Of course, dying would reset your streak so balancing risk vs reward remained key.

Eventually, Modern Warfare 3 introduced the Strike Chain system to allow choosing between strike packages tailored to different play styles. The Assault package focused on getting maximum kills for game-changing streaks. Support allowed building streaks over multiple lives to aid your team. Specialist provided early perks that eventually led to every perk at once on long streaks.

Loadout Customization

Early Call of Duty games featured pre-set classes that allowed little customization. As the series evolved, players gained much more control over crafting their ideal loadout. Modern Warfare (2019) offers an extensive Gunsmith system for swapping weapon attachments and tuning recoil control, handling, aim down sights speed, and much more.

Optics, magazines, barrels, stocks, grips, and unique ammo types help optimize weapon feel. Perk systems also expanded from simple choices like extra health or faster aiming to more advanced perk packages.

Players can finely craft specialized classes for aggressive rushing, stealthy flanking, area denial defense, and more personalized playstyles. Loadout personalization combined with fluid FPS gameplay keeps multiplayer addicting year after year.

Conclusion

The phenomenal success of Call of Duty multiplayer comes from both carefully iterated fundamentals and evolving new systems. The franchise found the perfect balance of tight core gunplay and ongoing progression systems to keep players engaged. Features like killstreaks, Create-a-Class, league play, and deep weapon customization make compiling your ideal loadout and jumping into quick matches endlessly rewarding. It’s no wonder Call of Duty remains one of the most active multiplayer FPS scenes.