Is Call of Duty safe for kids?

Call of Duty is a gritty first-person shooter (FPS) game based on military settings. The first few games are set in World War II while other wars feature in other games.

The game depicts events through the protagonists’ eyes. These events can include atrocities against innocent civilians, terrorist attacks and scenes of torture and execution.

Game series

Call of Duty was first released in 2003 with several versions and series. Versions of the game include:

• Call of Duty
• Modern Warfare
• World at War
• Black Ops
• Ghosts
• Advanced Warfare
• Infinite Warfare
• WWII
• Black Ops Cold War
• Vanguard
• Call of Duty Mobile
• Warzone

Some of these versions include three to four iterations as well. While each new game might have a new offering, they all generally include the same themes.

Minimum age rating

Generally, Call of Duty games have a PEGI 18 rating and are only intended for adults. Similarly, the ESRB rates Call of Duty as M for 17+ only.

Graphic violence, strong language and violence against “vulnerable and defenseless characters” inform these ratings. PEGI’s rating also cites “motiveless killing” of characters who are innocent.

Each Call of Duty game features a different story and set of characters. As such, the experience is unique to each game. However, Call of Duty generally include the following features:

Single-player or multiplayer

Players can choose from single-player and multiplayer modes. Single-player games focus more on the story and quests to complete. Multiplayer allows players to play against others in different ways:

• Team Deathmatch: Two teams compete to beat the most enemies.
• Domination: Teams fight against others to control different points on a map.
• Search and Destroy: Teams receive objectives to either defend or attack.
• Kill Confirmed: Players kills as many enemies as they can, collecting dog tags from the dead.
• Battle Royale: All players verse each other by collecting items to survive and kill others. The map shrinks to force players into interactions.
• Special Operations: Players complete cooperative missions with one or more others. Each mission includes different challenges.

Call of Duty: Warzone

Call of Duty: Warzone is a free-to-play version of the game, available on PC, PlayStation and Xbox. A mobile version is also available. The game revolves around battle royales where up to 150 players can fight either alone or as part of a team to be the last players standing.

While Warzone is free-to-play, making it an easy way for players to start playing COD games, there are micro-transactions in the game. Players can purchase COD points, which can then be used to unlock new characters and weapon designs. However, these are purely cosmetic and do not help the player win in the game.

Call of Duty: Mobile

Call of Duty: Mobile is a free-to-play version of COD that is only available on smartphones and tablets. It operates the same as other COD games, featuring maps used in other games and modes like Team Deathmatch and Search & Destroy.

As with other COD games, COD: Mobile contains micro-transactions that players can use to purchase new cosmetic items.

Violent content

Call of Duty is intended for adults, and contains graphic content such as realistic guns, bombs and killing. This can be confusing and disturbing for children. If your child is exposed to violent content, encourage them to discuss what they saw with you.

Harm from other players

While playing online, players can interact with each other through voice and text chat. This could result in children being exposed to inappropriate language and mean behaviours. Playing offline would prevent a child from interacting with others, and disabling voice chat would make online play safer.

Overspending

Call of Duty games contain micro-transactions, allowing players to purchase COD Points, which can then be used to acquire new cosmetic items like weapon and character designs. Children could be encouraged to overspend on micro-transactions in order to keep up with friends, or due to not understanding the value of money. If you allow your child to play COD, you should ensure they have developed good money habits to avoid overspending.

Call of Duty is for adults. However, if you allow your teenager to play, there are some things you can do to make the experience safer.

Turn off graphic content

You can turn off graphic content like blood and some bad language in the General menu. Here, you can also specify whether to exclude Text Chat, Filter Profanity and turn off Dismemberment & Gore Effects.

Disable voice chat

Voice chat can be turned off to reduce the risk of inappropriate language. Find this feature in the settings menu under ‘Audio’.

Set console controls

You can limit in-game spending, screen time and more by using console parental controls. Both PlayStation and Xbox have great options for parental controls.

If you want to restrict your child from accessing Call of Duty games, you can also set age limits on consoles.

If your child is under 18, explore the following games instead.

PEGI 7+

• Plants vs Zombies
• Roblox
• Minecraft

PEGI 12+

• Overwatch 2
• Fortnite

PEGI 16+

• Apex Legends
• Star Wars Battlefront