With Call of Duty: Ghosts, there was no innovation, with a traditional campaign provided instead. Call of Duty: Ghosts' ending was also flawed, as Infinity Ward clearly wanted Ghosts to spark its own subseries. To do this, the developer provided fans with a cliffhanger that did not make much sense at all.

Ghosts received generally mixed reviews from critics, with most praising its multiplayer gameplay and for the introduction of Extinction, but criticizing it for its single-player campaign, rehashing of familiar concepts, and general lack of innovation.