For the game mode with a similar objective, see Team Battle.
Modern Warfare 4 Team Deathmatch Icon.
"Team Deathmatch!"
— Announcer at the start of a Team Deathmatch match.
Team Deathmatch (commonly abbreviated as TDM), also known as PEW PEW[1] or Champion League[2] (both as an April Fool's day joke), is a multiplayer game mode that appears in every main Call of Duty games with the exception of Call of Duty 3 where it is replaced by Team Battle.
The aim of the game mode is to kill everyone on the opposing team, and the winner is the team that reaches a point limit, or if time runs out, has the most points. A draw can also occur if two teams have the same kill count or score by the time the gamemode ends. Team Deathmatch is one of the most popular multiplayer modes in the series, and the least complex multiplayer mode (aside from Free-for-All).
1 Call of Duty & Call of Duty 2
2 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare & Modern Warfare Remastered
3 Call of Duty: World at War
4 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
4.1 Team Deathmatch Express
5 Call of Duty: Black Ops
6 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
7 Call of Duty: Black Ops II
8 Call of Duty: Black Ops: Declassified
9 Call of Duty: Ghosts
10 Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
11 Call of Duty: Black Ops III
12 Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
13 Call of Duty: WWII
14 Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
15 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
16 Call of Duty: Mobile
17 Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
18 Call of Duty: Vanguard
19 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
20 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III
21 Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile
22 Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
23 Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
24 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4
25 Hardcore Differences
26 Videos
27 References
Call of Duty & Call of Duty 2[]
The objective is to kill as many people as possible on the opposing team. The teams are broken up into Allies, and Axis. Each kill is worth 1 point. Depending on the settings of the game, a match usually ends with the first team to reach 100 points as the winner. If the point limit isn't reached after a certain amount of time, the team with the most points when the time runs out wins.
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare & Modern Warfare Remastered[]
Modern Warfare Remastered Team Deathmatch Icon.
Team Deathmatch in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare features two teams, United States Marine Corps versus OpFor on Ambush, Backlot, Broadcast, Bog, Crash, Crossfire, District, Showdown and Strike, then Special Air Service versus Spetsnaz on Bloc, Chinatown, Countdown, Creek, Downpour, Killhouse, Overgrown, Pipeline, Shipment, Vacant and Wet Work. The objective of both teams is to kill as many members of the enemy team as possible. The first team that reaches 750 points (75 points for Remastered, each kill is worth 1 point to the score), or gets the most points in a specified time limit, wins. 10 points are achieved for each kill and 2 points for each assist. Assist points are not added to the team total. 10 experience points are achieved upon calling in close air support after achieving killstreaks of 3, 5 and 7 respectively. These points do not count towards the team total. The values in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered are 100 points for a kill, 20 points for an assist and 100 points for calling in a killstreak.
3 kills - UAV Recon
5 kills - Airstrike
7 kills - Helicopter
Call of Duty: World at War[]
Team Deathmatch in World at War is similar to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and previous titles. The first team to get a certain number of kills wins the battle. The assist system is more detailed than Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare's system. Instead of always getting 2 points for an assist, the player is given a different score depending on how much they assisted the killer. Giving the victim a light wound gets 2 points, a more serious one gets 6, etc. Also, 10 points are given when a Recon Plane is called, an Artillery Strike is called, and the Dogs are called. Killing an enemy dog will net the player's team 3 points. These points go towards the team total.
3 Kills - Recon Plane
5 Kills - Artillery Strike
7 Kills - Dogs
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2[]
The layout of Team Deathmatch in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is structured the same as they were in the previous games; however, the XP amounts have changed; each kill gives 100 XP and assists give 20 XP. To win the match, one team must either reach the score limit first (7500 points in normal, 10,000 points in Ground War, 75 and 100 kills respectively) before the opposing faction does, or have more points than the other when the time limit expires. Additional points are given for shooting down aircraft, calling in killstreak rewards or getting special kills, such as a Payback kill, but these are not added to the team's score.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's Team Deathmatch respawning system is very different from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: World at War. In previous games, players spawned far away from enemies, generally with teammates. In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, however, the mere proximity of enemies to a spawn point no longer prevents spawning there. Instead, a player will spawn at a point as long as no enemy is looking at the spawn point regardless of how close they are to it. Thus, players often spawn closer to each other than previous games. Interestingly, if a player is looking through a chain link fence at a spawn point it does NOT prevent enemies from spawning there, though the player can easily shoot through the fence and perform a spawn kill.
Team Deathmatch Express[]
A variant of the mode, Team Deathmatch Express, is available and functions like the original Team Deathmatch game type, but intermission between rounds in the game lobby is reduced greatly, to which the word "Express" refers. A Team Deathmatch intermission period takes 60 seconds, while Team Deathmatch Express takes only 20 seconds, allowing for a more fluid transition between games. However, this allows for less time to change classes, invite friends or perform other actions between games. Sometimes when the player joins a Team Deathmatch Express lobby, maps from the Resurgence Map Pack will come up instead of the original maps. However, if the player has not purchased the Resurgence Map Pack, then they will be kicked out of the lobby when the match begins.
Call of Duty: Black Ops[]
A new addition to this however is that now all players Kill/Death ratio is shown on the scoreboard. This was added because there is no side objective and is therefore the main focus of this game mode. This allows the player to quickly see who is helping their team (Kill/Death ratio over 1.00) and who is not helping their team (Kill/Death ratio below 1.00).
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3[]
Team Deathmatch in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is essentially the same as it was in Call of Duty: Black Ops, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty: World at War. The score limit remains at 75 kills for one team (100 in Ground War) and all the kill bonuses do not go toward the team score. Assist XP is not the same as it was in Call of Duty: Black Ops, and is rather the same as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The spawns are quite similar to those of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. A Hardcore Ricochet Team Deathmatch variant also exists.
Call of Duty: Black Ops II[]
Team Deathmatch remains the same in Call of Duty: Black Ops II. Again, the first team to 75 kills (100 in Ground War) wins. Bonuses from Assists, etc. give additional XP to players and additional score to their Scorestreaks. Players can again view their KDR on the scoreboard after the match, or during the game.
Call of Duty: Black Ops: Declassified[]
Team Deathmatch returns to Call of Duty: Black Ops: Declassified but now has a lower score limit of 6000.
Call of Duty: Ghosts[]
Team Deathmatch remains the most basic game mode to play in Call of Duty: Ghosts. The first team to 75 kills wins also remains the first and most simple rule of the game mode.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare[]
The icon for TDM in the mode-selection menu
Team Deathmatch returns in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. This time there are two versions of Team Deathmatch. The regular TDM from past Call of Duty games is playable in the Classic Playlist along with Domination, Search and Destroy and Kill Confirmed or the version with the new exoskeletons and exo abilities. The rules, however, are still the same. As of an update, the first team to reach 100 kills instead of the 75 kills wins.
Call of Duty: Black Ops III[]
Team Deathmatch appears in Call of Duty: Black Ops III. The kill limit was originally 75, but was patched to increase to 100 like with Advanced Warfare.
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare[]
"Kill players on the opposing teams. The first team to reach the score limit wins!"
— Standard In-game description.
"Hardcore Team Deathmatch. Limited HUD, low Health, friendly fire enabled and much more."
— Hardcore In-game description.
Team Deathmatch reappears in Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, where the goal is to obtain 100 kills instead of the usual 75 kills from previous games. A Hardcore variant and a Tactical variant also appear.
Core Team Deathmatch
Tactical Team Deathmatch
Call of Duty: WWII[]
Team Deathmatch returns in Call of Duty: WWII. It features the previous score limit of 75 kills.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4[]
"Straight up Team Deathmatch on all maps. Use teamwork to eliminate the enemy players and reach the score limit."
— In-game description.
Source: https://callofduty.fandom.com/wiki/Team_Deathmatch. This is an independent Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 reference page.