Every year, there’s one thing fans of the Call of Duty (CoD) franchise can be certain of: a new Call of Duty game is coming out. While fans and industry insiders are speculating that this year’s release will be a sequel to Black Ops 2, released back in 2012, the game would be set in the 2030s, around five to ten years after the events of Black Ops 2’s campaign.
Of course, this wouldn’t be the first time the CoD franchise has traveled far into the future. After all, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, released in 2016, was set all the way in the year 2187. Incidentally, the earliest Call of Duty setting is the infamous WWII, released a year after Infinite Warfare.
Spanning centuries, the Call of Duty story has certainly taken players through various time periods and settings. One of the most iconic thus far, however, is Black Ops 6’s spy thriller campaign which is set right in the heart of the 1990s at the end of the first Gulf War. Stephanie Snowden, senior director of Call of Duty Studios’ communications, stated that the game aimed to capture “that 90s action hero feeling” while still keeping its Call of Duty identity.
Months after its release, fans have likened the latest CoD game to classic 90s action flicks like Speed, Mission: Impossible, Bad Boys, and Die Hard With A Vengeance. Beyond the guns and explosions, one of the best 90s elements the game put into play is its use of music.
Jack Wall, who’s scored every Black Ops game since 2012, talked about capturing the ferocity of early grunge while also incorporating 90s synths. Like Snowden, Wall discussed wanting the music to make the game feel like a movie. In this post, we’ll look at how 90s music helped solidify Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s setting:
But what does Call of Duty have to do with music?
Even before players get the chance to hop into a Call of Duty multiplayer lobby or its single player campaign, they’re treated to cinematic trailers of the game to build hype in the lead-up to the year’s CoD release. In 2022, the Internet broke out into a frantic Google search for Modern Warfare 2’s trailer song, which turned out to be a Metallica‘s “Wherever I May Roam” by Colombian reggaeton singer, J Balvin. Of course, Modern Warfare 2 was set in the present at the time (2022), justifying the reggaeton Metallica cover.
However, this wasn’t Call of Duty’s first Metallica trip. In 2019, the first Modern Warfare reboot used Metallica’s instantly recognizable Enter Sandman for its multiplayer reveal trailer. Years later, Call of Duty brought back the 90s by using The Prodigy’s Firestarter in Black Ops 6’s reveal trailer. Developer Treyarch also made a remix of Rob Zombie’s Dragula for the game’s Zombies mode trailer, highlighting the game’s dark, 90s setting.
Through the years, most of Call of Duty’s trailers rely on rock music to fit the franchise’s adrenaline-pumping gameplay. Black Ops 6’s use of 90s music, however, helped set the tone of the game’s first foray into the time period.
Aside from using music in the game and its trailers, music also plays a crucial role in Call of Duty’s esports scene. Today, Call of Duty maintains a thriving esports scene. Officially named the Call of Duty League or CDL, CoD’s esports scene is modeled after most traditional sports leagues in the US, following city-based teams competing for championships throughout year-long seasons.
The first professional LAN Call of Duty tournaments were established in the 2000s, leading to the Major League Championship in 2009 before becoming a fully-fledged esports ecosystem called the Call of Duty World League in 2016. In 2020, the league was rebranded into the Call of Duty League, where teams like Atlanta FaZe, New York Subliners, and OpTic Texas duke it out during the season for the coveted championship title.
On top of watching or attending CDL events, fans can also bet on Call of Duty. Online betting site Thunderpick offers crypto support, offers live betting access for all featured Call of Duty events, which means fans can place and even cancel bets without missing out or clicking away from enjoying CDL streams and their intense productions. This can be seen via the epic entrance in the video below which shows the OpTic Texas 2025 team introduction for the 2025 Call of Duty League Season.
Given how early the CoD esports scene started, there’s no question that many CoD veterans know and love 90s music. Its use in trailers, in the games, and during official esports productions and live streams fits well with the CoD games’ vibe and atmosphere.
Today, teams use 90s music genres like hip-hop or rock to help build hype during tournament walkouts. Some teams, like former CDL champions Atlanta FaZe, have also spoken about listening to hip-hop anthems pre-match to help get players in the right mind space. Whether hip-hop or rock grunge, the 90s music can help keep players competitive in crowd-filled stadiums and arenas, leading to more intense matches and a better betting experience for CoD esports enthusiasts.
