At NASCAR’s Coronado Event Call Of Duty Played The Long Game

THE GAME BECAME SOMETHING ELSE

First launched in 2003, Call of Duty began as a military-themed first-person shooter centered on World War II combat. At the time, military shooters were already popular but Call of Duty broke out of the pack with its cinematic style, squad-based action, and fast pacing.

Over more than two decades, the series expanded into modern warfare, historical settings, speculative future conflicts, online multiplayer and live-service experiences while building a massive global audience.

Alongside the games themselves, publisher Activision gradually developed a broader connection to the military community through the Call of Duty Endowment or C.O.D.E., a Veteran employment initiative founded in 2009. So while Call of Duty started as a franchise inspired by military service, over time it became one that also seeks to support service members after they take the uniform off.

The Endowment’s mission has remained largely unchanged for more than 15 years even as the franchise itself has evolved. According to Activision, the Endowment has helped fund more than 169,000 Veteran job placements since its launch by directing support toward organizations focused on employment outcomes.

The scale is larger than many people might expect from what began as a video game initiative. According to the Endowment, average placement costs in 2025 were $686 per Veteran, while average starting salaries exceeded $76,000. The program expanded into the United Kingdom in 2017 and previously reached its 100,000-placement milestone ahead of schedule before setting new targets.

MEASURING IMPACT, NOT AWARENESS

For Dan Goldenberg, President of the Call of Duty Endowment, employment was deliberately selected over causes more commonly associated with Veteran philanthropy.

“Mental health, housing, and other Veteran needs are enormously important, but employment is the single largest need among Veterans and transitioning service members and where we believed we could make the most measurable and scalable difference,” Goldenberg said.

Goldenberg said that conclusion was informed both by discussions with Department of Defense Transition Assistance Program officials and by peer-reviewed research on military-to-civilian transition, which found transitioning Veterans consistently rank employment among their top concerns and that 53 percent of new post-9/11 Veterans used employment programs within 90 days of discharge.

That emphasis on measurable outcomes appears throughout the program’s philosophy. Goldenberg said the organization evaluates success using placements, salaries, retention and cost per placement rather than broad awareness metrics.

“If I had to pick one KPI, it would be verified high-quality placements,” he said.

That sounds less like a charity pitch and more like something delivered over a PowerPoint slide in a boardroom, which appears to be exactly the point.

A placement, according to Goldenberg, only matters if it results in meaningful employment at a sustainable wage with signs the Veteran is likely to remain employed. Reach, impressions and awareness all matter far less than whether someone actually ended up with a better life on the other side of the process.

To reinforce that, Endowment grantees report placement results quarterly and every other year those numbers are subjected to independent verification checks conducted by Deloitte. Retention is measured at both six and 12 months, with the organization working toward extending tracking further into Veterans’ civilian careers.

The Endowment supports a network of employment-focused organizations including Hire Heroes USA, VetJobs, AMVETS Career Centers, Still Serving Veterans, Veterans Inc., Operation: Job Ready Veterans and partners in the United Kingdom.

And perhaps that’s what makes the Call of Duty Endowment feel different from the usual celebrity fundraiser or corporate cause campaign. It isn’t trying to convince people to care about Veterans. It starts with the assumption that they already do.

BEYOND THE SCREEN

One thing Activision does not track is how many Call of Duty players are active-duty military or Veterans themselves. But Imperiale said internal research conducted within the Call of Duty community consistently shows that support for military and Veteran causes ranks as the top social impact issue among the franchise’s player base.

According to Imperiale, in the most recent tracking, players were approximately twice as likely to support Veteran-focused charities than other charitable causes, and Veteran employment ranked among the issues generating the strongest concern.

The military connection extends into the franchise itself.

Imperiale said Call of Duty continues to work with former military members to help inform tactics, equipment, dialogue and storytelling. For Endowment content specifically, the approach has evolved from broadly honoring military service to collaborating directly with Veterans in shaping stories and experiences.

Among the contributors are Medal of Honor recipient Flo Groberg, former NASA astronaut and Navy SEAL Chris Cassidy and retired U.S. Army Soldier Danielle Green.

“We’re working directly with Veterans to help shape the stories we tell, ensuring their experiences, perspectives, and personalities are reflected authentically in the content,” Imperiale said.

That distinction matters.

Call of Duty has never been presented as a military recruiting tool and Activision says it does not track military affiliation among players. Imperiale said the Endowment remains focused specifically on Veteran employment and that its storytelling emphasizes post-service careers, leadership and community contribution rather than military recruitment.

At Coronado, that translated into something unusual.

Not far away, racecars echoed off aircraft hangars and concrete barriers. Inside another corner of the base, service members, Veterans, creators and gamers gathered around competition of a different kind.

The audience turned out to be anything but small. According to Activision, the seventh annual C.O.D.E. Bowl generated average livestream concurrency of 37,500 viewers with a peak audience of 61,900. Across social platforms, the event generated 8.4 million impressions, 2.7 million video views and nearly 587,000 engagements.

But for all the attention generated, the stated goal was not leaderboard placement or streaming numbers.

As Goldenberg put it: “A good job is one of the most powerful stabilizing forces in a Veteran’s transition: it provides income, purpose, identity, structure, and a path to reintegration with the civilian community.”

More than 20 years after Call of Duty first put players into virtual combat boots, part of the franchise’s identity now lives in helping some of the people who wore the real thing find their next chapter.

And for the Call of Duty Endowment, the objective is also remarkably analog.

“For 17 years, Activision has invested in Veteran employment because supporting Veterans is both authentic to Call of Duty and proven to create meaningful impact,” Imperiale said.

“Nearly two decades later, the mission endures because the need remains, the community continues to rally behind it, and the results are measurable, helping fund more than 169,000 veteran job placements and creating lasting opportunities for those who served.”