Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis is the first game in both the Operation Flashpoint series and the ARMA series, and has been released alternatively under the name ARMA: Cold War Assault.

Because the original developer, Bohemia Interactive, and the original publisher, Codemasters, parted ways, with each continuing the series on their own, the game effectively forked into the two separate series. Having retained the rights to the original name, Codemasters continued the Operation Flashpoint series with another developer. Meanwhile, Bohemia Interactive continued its own take on the game series under the ARMA name.