A guide for families with key information about ‘Call of Duty’, including the age rating, key terminology, risks and instructions for enabling parental controls and safety settings.
Contents
How Call of Duty: Mobile works
Call of Duty (COD): Mobile is a first-person multiplayer battle game. It can be played on iOS and Android devices and through a web browser. Players compete against others online using realistic military-style weapons to complete missions.
Games can be played solo or in teams with friends or strangers. The game also provides storytelling from a first-person perspective that makes the game realistic and allows players to act as military persons with power.
Minimum age requirements
COD: Mobile has an adult 18 PEGI rating as it is a highly violent game. It can often require motiveless killing or violence towards defenceless characters.
Players are asked for their date of birth during account set up, but no age verification is required. This means that younger users could lie about their age to play.
Features
Arsenal
This allows players to modify and upgrade their weapons.
Battle Passes
These allow players the chance to gain additional content and chances to go up a level. Players can get free battle passes through completing challenges or levels, or by purchasing them using real money. Paid-for battle passes give players the chance to earn exclusive content unavailable to other players.
Battle Royale
This mode allows up to 100 players to fight to be the last one standing.
Challenges
These are features of the game that are changed both daily and weekly. They reward players for achieving specific statistics.
Chat
The chat function allows players to communicate with each other. This can be done in 3 ways:
‘World’ (which is public).
With ‘Friends’.
Within a ‘Clan’ (a player’s team).
Clan
A ‘Clan’ is a group of players who join up to play the game together to complete tasks and missions. Clans can be made up of players you know, but also players you don’t.
KillStreak
An in-game reward system. ‘Killstreaks’ are scores given to players regarding the number of kills a player has achieved consecutively before being killed themselves.
Loadout
This allows players time to select their perks, weapons and ‘operator skill’ before joining a match.
Operator Skills
Special enhanced skills and weapons that can be used to make a comeback at particular moments in the game.
Scorestreak
‘Scorestreaks’ are the rewards players earn for playing well. They can include weapons or skills to help them proceed. Users can earn scorestreaks or purchase them in the game
Managing risks
Inappropriate content
COD: Mobile features content that is inappropriate for users under 18. The animation of the game is realistic and includes blood splatters when players are killed.
If your child plays COD: Mobile, talk with them about the content they see in the game. Enquire about how the violence makes them feel and call out any glamorised violence. Tell them they can come to you for support if any content makes them upset.
Contact with other players
This game is designed to be played as a multiplayer game with friends or strangers online. Players can be exposed to inappropriate language or content through the live player interaction and chat functions.
The following steps can help reduce the risks related to contact with other players.
Avoid playing with strangers
Encourage your child to only play with friends that they know and trust in real life.
Talk about online interactions
Have conversations about your child’s online life to help you learn if they are interacting with strangers. Teach them what information is okay to share online to prevent oversharing and protect their privacy.
Some gamers use third party chatting apps like Discord to chat while gaming, so ask what platforms they use. Make it clear they can always come to you for support.
Muting and reporting tools
Empower your child to use the muting and reporting tools to end contact with players that make them uncomfortable.
Excessive screen time
Players may feel pressure to continue playing when they are completing missions within a team. There are also ‘Limited-time events’ that may encourage some players to spend more time on the platform to try and complete a mission before it becomes unavailable.
These steps can help your child manage their time on the platform.
Screen time controls
Android and iOS devices have in-built screen time tools that allow you to set a limit on how long your child can play the game each day.
Agree on boundaries
Come to an agreement with your child about when and where they can play COD: Mobile.
Settings to protect your child
If you choose to allow your child to play COD: Mobile, these settings can help keep them safe.
Manage privacy
Set account to ‘Private’ (on iOS)
Go to the ‘Game Centre’ in the settings menu.
Go to ‘Privacy and settings’.
Change ‘Profile privacy’ to ‘Only you’.
Set account to ‘Private’ (on Android)
Go to the ‘Play games’ app.
Select the menu icon.
Select ‘Settings’.
Select ‘Game profile’.
Select ‘Play now’.
Select ‘Your game profile’.
Adjust your ‘Visibility and notifications’ settings to the most private options.
Muting and reporting tools
Mute a player
While in the game, select the speaker icon on the right-hand side.
Choose the player from the list.
Select the speaker next to their name (this will mute them for the duration of the game).
Report a player
Select the profile picture of the account you are using.
Go to ‘Player history’ (stopwatch icon).
Select the parachute icon to report a player.
Select the player you wish to report and select the exclamation (!) icon.
Highlight the player and choose the appropriate report type from the list.
Select Report.