'Call of Duty', the stalwart video game veteran, turns 20

SAN FRANCISCO, United States -- James Spratt recalls dashing home from school as a teenager to band together online with friends to do battle in "Call of Duty", the global video game juggernaut that never gets old.

The franchise deployed by Activision Blizzard 20 years ago helped define the military shooter game genre, winning millions of fans and raking more than $30 billion.

And Spratt, to the amazement of his dad, now makes a living sharing his "CoD" sniper skills on his YouTube channel from his home in Britain.

"At school, we were racing home basically to get a squad of six together because if you missed out on being with your friends, you were playing by yourself," said Spratt, who recently turned 30 years old.

"There was something about that game that just kept me coming back every year; I was hooked."

Activision published the original "Call of Duty" created by Infinity Ward studio in October of 2003 and has released installments at an annual cadence that continues with the arrival of "Modern Warfare 3" on November 10.

The yearly release cycle is "almost this ingrained holiday" and became a "secret sauce" for the franchise, "Call of Duty" general manager Johanna Faries told AFP.

"Players almost set their watch to when a new 'Call of Duty' is coming to the forefront," Faries said.

Wedbush entertainment software analyst Michael Pachter described the decision to create annual installments of the game as the "biggest driver" behind its success, combined with varying content between World War II, modern warfare, and "black ops" secret missions.

- All the talk -
Another driver of success for the franchise was continually refining an online, multi-player aspect that won over players like young Spratt and his friends who turned it into group fun.

"It wasn't just the game itself, but it's what 'Call of Duty' represented - each year you had a massive community that was continuing to grow," Spratt said.

"You could talk about it with someone down in the garage or down at the shop or people online - everyone just seemed to know what 'Call of Duty' was."

Spratt said his partner has nieces and nephews playing the game, along with her brother-in-law.

"I feel like it was a