Steven Spielberg’s Direct Connection to Call of Duty Explored in New Video Game Show Now Streaming

There is a new eight-part documentary titled Game Changers that is premiering on Discovery and it dives into some surprising facts that may surprise some Call of Duty fans.

The new docuseries explores how some of the most iconic video games have influenced pop culture and beyond. It dives into the backstories of how video games that we all know and love, including Call of Duty, Minecraft, and Sonic, were created and more. You’ll hear from the inventors of the games, journalists, authors, and video game enthusiasts about little-known facts that brought these adoring games to the public eye.

One thing that was discovered in the documentary was that E.T. creator Steven Spielberg actually has a big influence on war games because of his 1998 cinematic masterpiece, Saving Private Ryan. After the release of the film, Spielberg sparked an idea through DreamWorks Interactive to create a video game that captured a similar intensity to the movie, and with that, the game Medal of Honor was created. The game essentially set new standards for first-person shooters and war games and ultimately inspired the creators of Call of Duty. Both Medal of Honor and Call of Duty encapsulate the attention to historical accuracy and share an intensity behind the cinematic sets of the games. The more you know!

Not only did he inspire the game, but Spielberg is actually a big fan of Call of Duty himself. Earlier this month, his son Max Spielberg, who also has his own successful career in the world of gaming, told MinnMax that his father was a huge gaming nerd.

“He loves gaming. He’s the one that got me into it. He plays games. He’s a big PC gamer and so that’s kind of our bonding point as well,” Max said about his father. “He’s like, ‘Hey what’s good’, ‘What are the new (shooters?)’, ‘Which Call of Duty should I be playing?’ You know, like ‘Just send me a list of the top five shooters and I’ll get ‘em downloaded and we can play them together when you come over to the house.’”

“He loves Call of Duty. He plays the campaign,” Max added, noting that he only plays games on his keyboard and mouse. “He’s big into story games and I’m always trying to get him to play Uncharted, I’m like it’s Indiana Jones, you’d appreciate this. And he’s like ‘I can’t do controllers. I can only do keyboard and mouse.’”

When and Where to Watch Game Changers

Game Changers premiered on November 5, 2024, on Discovery at 9 PM ET/PT. You can watch the documentary on Sling.