Military Entertainment After 9/11: A Case Study on Call of Duty Modern Warfare Franchise

Abstract

The Call of Duty franchises are renowned for being the best-selling first-person shooter games globally and boast the highest number of concurrent players worldwide. The franchise has significantly impacted the creation of war narratives, particularly about heroism and values exported from the United States. Notably, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (CoD: MW) was the first series to exhibit the characteristics and iconography of a modern war film. This study examines the narrative themes and structural components of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series since 9/11. The interaction of the 'dangerous frontier' has not been directly discussed in Call of Duty narratives, as a result of the combination of Bush's defense policy, economic globalization, and neoliberalism in the post-9/11 era. The study revealed that the game design and narrative of Call of Duty Modern Warfare relies on a dichotomy of "dangerous borders," where audiovisual technology, storytelling, and cultural symbols are employed to starkly distinguish between advanced attributes within the borders and barbaric mapping outside of them. The game also disseminates values of just war which are based on the American Exceptionalism Theory. Meanwhile, recent research has revealed a stronger correlation between narrative changes within the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare franchise over the past five years and recruitment advertising with war entertainment, and that this dynamic has reduced the impact of narrative styles within the media in the post-9/11 era.