Call Of Duty: 9 Biggest Mistakes Activision Want You To Forget

7. Call Of Duty 2's "Gameplay Trailer"

Call Of Duty 2 Activision
Activision

While most of the entries on this list cover the time after Call of Duty properly broke into legendary territory following the release of Modern Warfare, the franchise was still courting controversy before then. The second game was hugely anticipated at the time, with hype escalating even further due to it being one of the first big releases for Microsoft's Xbox 360.

Nobody really knew what to expect, so when a trailer for the sequel was released, boasting gorgeous visuals all presented from the same first-person view you'd find in the actual game, many assumed what they were seeing was real gameplay.

Of course, the graphics on display were far and away better than anything the Xbox 360 could achieve, but at that point people didn't know that, and without any disclaimers, assumed it was in-game footage.

It wasn't, obviously, and a run in with the UK's Advertising Standards Authority led to the commercial being removed after complaints about false advertising came rolling in.

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Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.