Which Call of Duty Games Are Backwards Compatible?

The Call of Duty games franchise is one of the biggest in the world, and it’s no surprise that some fans would love the opportunity to sink their teeth into their favourite old titles once again. That’s where backwards compatibility comes in; giving players with newer consoles the chance to slip in an old disc and play to their heart's content. Unfortunately, only PC can provide players with the chance to play every single COD title, as consoles only provide a few of the titles you know and love with backwards compatibility.

Call of Duty Backwards Compatibility on Console

Unsurprisingly, Microsoft has the upper hand when it comes to Call of Duty backwards compatibility, compared to Sony. The Xbox One is backwards compatible, via original disc or digitally, with several Xbox 360 titles. Check out the list below.

Call of Duty Backwards Compatible Games On Xbox One (and X)

• Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare                                           
• Call of Duty: Black Ops  
• Call of Duty: Black Ops II                           
• Call of Duty: Ghosts                                    
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2                                           
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3                                           
• Call of Duty: World at War                                                    
• Call of Duty 2                                                             
• Call of Duty 3                                               
• Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

This change did not come easily, however, as when the Xbox One was announced, Microsoft revealed their list of publishers who would be supporting the backwards compatibility feature, and Activision was not among that list. However, this did eventually come to pass and even had a fan-made petition to approve it.
 

• Related - The Fans Have Spoken - Which Call of Duty Game Was the Best?

Call of Duty Backwards Compatible Games On PS4 (and Pro)

Sony has been less than agreeable when it comes to a backwards compatibility feature in the past, and it’s not possible to play PS3 games on the console either from disc or digital download. However, the PlayStation subscription service ‘PlayStation Now’, launched in 2014, lets players stream older titles (from PS2 and PS3) to play on your PS4 (or PS4 Pro) at a monthly additional cost.

Unfortunately, no older Call of Duty titles exist on the streaming service, unless the player wants to purchase them again for the latest console.

What Call of Duty games are backwards compatible with next-gen consoles?

Call of Duty PS5 backwards compatible games 

PS5’s lead architect Mark Cerny revealed in March 2020, in his developer update video, that backwards compatibility would absolutely be a feature.

We recently took a look at the 100 top PlayStation 4 titles as ranked by playtime, and we're expecting almost all of them to be playable at launch on PlayStation 5.

At the time this was said to definitely include several Call of Duty titles, including Black Ops 3, WWII and Infinite Warfare.

However, there was no indication that PS1, PS2 or PS3 games would be included in the backwards compatibility, and players would have to make do with the PlayStation Now streaming service to get their nostalgia fix for the time being.

Now the PlayStation 5 has released, we know that the "overwhelming majority" of PS4's 4,000+ games are playable on PS5, including all Call of Duty titles that were available to play on PS4.

In fact, the only PS4 games that won't work on PS5 are listed below.
 

• DWVR
• Afro Samurai 2 Revenge of Kuma Volume One
• TT Isle of Man - Ride on the Edge 2
• Just Deal With It!
• Shadow Complex Remastered
• Robinson: The Journey
• We Sing
• Hitman Go: Definitive Edition
• Shadwen
• Joe's Diner

Call of Duty Xbox Series X backwards compatible games

When the Xbox Series X hit shelves in late 2020, COD fans were happy to hear it is backwards compatible with all Xbox One games, included in the “thousands of your favourite games” that will also come from the Xbox 360.

At Xbox, we’ve made a promise to compatibility: you can expect thousands of your favourite games across four generations of gaming, your Xbox One gaming accessories, your Xbox gaming legacy, and industry-leading services like Xbox Game Pass to work with Xbox Series X.

Below is a list every backwards compatible Call of Duty Xbox 360 game playable on Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S.

• Call of Duty 2
• Call of Duty 3
• Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 2
• Call of Duty: Ghosts
• Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
• Call of Duty: World at War

Images via Activision