Whether it's a cup of tea on a rainy day, re-watching your favourite sitcom, or pulling on those old pyjamas you really should've replaced by now, we all have our own homely comforts. But for a generation of children of the 1990s and 2000s, nothing says 'this is living' like unloading assault rifles and lobbing grenades during online bouts of Call Of Duty . 'It's like putting on a cosy old jumper,' says long-time fan Sam Jones, who started playing in 2007, aged 11.
Johanna Fairies, who manages the franchise at publisher Activision Blizzard, believes the teams have 'continued to raise the bar on what ambition looks like'. 'The gaming industry is only getting more competitive,' she says. 'But the annualised cycle has been quite unique to us - to be able to sustain that is a feat unto itself. 'It brings even more meaning to the 20th anniversary.