It became one of the best-selling titles of 2008, selling 3 million copies in the United States within the first two months of its release. It also marked the beginning of the Black Ops sub-series, as characters from World at War were carried over into its sequel, Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010).

He serves as one of the two deuteragonists (alongside Sgt. Roebuck) of Call of Duty: World at War, the deuteragonist of Call of Duty: Black Ops, a posthumous character in Call of Duty: Black Ops II, and a major character in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4.