Call of Duty: Ghosts takes place in an alternate timeline where the United States and The Federation, a coalition of southern american countries, are at war. The conflict has been ongoing for ten years, causing entire cities to be destroyed. The player controls different characters from various points of view as they follow the story of a US 'Ghost' team.
The game's multiplayer component is a key feature, offering standard CoD modes like free for all and Team deathmatch, as well as Ground War, which rotates between Domination and Team Deathmatch and Blitz, similar to capture the flag but with portals at the enemy spawn point instead of flags.