It was a busy old weekend for Zombies. This is mainly about the now-squashed rumour of a standalone game, but I can’t discuss that without first giving a shoutout to Skite and co. SEVEN of the Revelations ciphers were solved after almost ten years, fleshing out the much-maligned ending of Black Ops 3. Congratulations to everyone involved! It was a lovely feeling getting to read new Aether lore, and it certainly adds layers to Dr Monty and his “perfect world”. Here’s hoping we one day find out what the remaining few say.
A report circulated on Sunday claiming that Activision was considering a standalone Zombies game as part of a new strategy to make Call of Duty more agile. For a brief second, there was peace among all Zombies fans – until it was swiftly denied by Call of Duty via a reply on Twitter to an article about the rumours.
I have no doubt that something along the lines of a standalone Zombies game has been discussed recently. It’s been discussed before, and it’ll be discussed again, because that’s what happens in game development. People talk, and ideas form, especially at a studio like Treyarch, which will be beginning to consider its next steps after Black Ops 7’s support ends.
I also wouldn’t be surprised if Activision conducted a full post-mortem across all areas of Call of Duty, given the poor launch sales of Black Ops 7. Without being a fly on the wall in those rooms, we’ll never know whether any ideas or discussions reached the point of tangible projects.
Even if meaningful conversations are ongoing behind the scenes and Call of Duty is covering its tracks, it’d still be years before we played anything. And there’s no guarantee it wouldn’t create a whole new set of problems for Zombies fans. For all we know, it could end up a genAI-riddled cashgrab.
The recent appointment of Asha Sharma at the top of Xbox adds another variable. We’ll need to see whether she allows Activision to continue business as usual or decides to reduce its autonomy within Xbox.
All that said, a standalone Zombies title is undeniably an interesting thing to discuss. Many of us have fantasised about a Zombies-only game since the early days of the mode. Maybe it is time to let Zombies call the shots, instead of always playing second fiddle to Warzone and the rest of Call of Duty. What’s the worst that could happen?
Live and Let Live
I’ve been critical of Zombies’ place in Call of Duty’s live-service model for a while. It takes longer to put a round-based map together than it does a multiplayer map, and Treyarch will never be able to have a new map ready for the start of every season without making major sacrifices that would anger the Zombies community.
Personally, I have no issue with a map releasing halfway through a season, as long as we know about it. Yet it’s the clearest example of how Zombies sits awkwardly within Call of Duty’s seasonal structure. During Black Ops 6, Shattered Veil left players wanting more, only for them to wait from April until August for the next map, Reckoning. In the past, that’d have been a fairly standard gap between Zombies maps. Nowadays, it’s a long stretch of Call of Duty without a substantial Zombies update: Season 3 Reloaded, Season 4, Season 4 Reloaded.
It’s as if Zombies is caught between its traditional DLC model and a live-service one. Treyarch has run plenty of experiments (Outbreak, Vanguard, and MWZ), but full round-based maps with quests remain the only Zombies content that truly moves the needle. And again, those experiences take time to build. If Treyarch tried to fire them out at a faster rate, the maps would trend closer to Liberty Falls and The Tomb than to Der Eisendrache or Shattered Veil.
I’m admittedly old-school when it comes to post-launch Zombies. I’m a firm believer in “we’ll get it when it’s ready”. Anything that isn’t a new map feels like bonus content to tide us over until the next big hit of the good stuff. It’s a little bit like the X-Files having Monster-of-the-Week diversions to break up the Alien Mythology episodes (which traditionally have more character and plot development).
To me, that would be the main benefit of a standalone Zombies game: breaking away from Call of Duty’s seasonal format. It could still tie in to battle passes and store bundles, but in terms of content, Treyarch could build a Zombies-only roadmap that focuses directly on what players love about the mode.
Take Survival Maps, for instance, which make a welcome return in Black Ops 7. These are the perfect stopgap between round-based maps, but their potential is currently wasted. There are some slight differences between each map, but not enough to make them stand out. Black Ops 2’s Nuketown Zombies, on the other hand, is pretty much a survival map by today’s standards, yet the random perk and PAP machines dropping from the sky make it stay in your mind longer.
Survival highlights the core issue many of us have with Modern Zombies, even if we enjoy it. Between the build table with identical equipment, the same challenge system, and tired field upgrades (to name a few…), it often feels as though these systems exist mainly to keep up with the demands of live-service content. Having a solid framework for maps is smart and efficient, sure, but it dulls the thrill of a new Zombies experience. You know what you’re getting – and that’s before marketing starts.
Could a standalone Zombies game, one that marches to the beat of its own drum, give Treyarch the time and space needed to make maps feel unique again? I’d hope so. I’d love to see individual perk machines return in Survival maps instead of relying on the Wunderfizz every time. I’d love a Round-Based map to have a new gimmick like Mob of the Dead’s Afterlife. I’d even settle for a unique special weapon to replace my field upgrade.
I appreciate that many people enjoy the sandbox nature of recent Zombies modes. There are real positives to that approach, and it certainly has its place, but Cursed Mode has convinced me that it’s worth restricting players in certain areas again. Not every game needs players to create their own fun. A curated experience that gives players freedom, but limits it, can be just as creative. Although I feel strongly about that, I understand there are so many different types of Zombies players now. To keep us all happy, it might be best for Treyarch to continue running Standard and Cursed side by side. A standalone game could broaden the scope of both.
Zombies is in a similar position to Resident Evil. Some fans want a focus on the classics’ Survival Horror, while others prefer the action-heavy direction of RE5 and RE6. A horde of Zombies fans crave complexity and mystery; others prefer the freedom of modern entries. The pairing of Standard and Cursed Mode is Zombies’ version of Resident Evil Requiem–an attempt to combine the best of both worlds.
With all Call of Duty studios now working on the unified COD engine, it would be easier than ever for additional teams to help Treyarch extend the life of a Zombies game. As the game grows longer in the tooth, the baton could be passed to one of these support studios to work on remakes or smaller maps while Treyarch focuses on creating a sequel (let’s call it Zombies 2, lol).
It’s Never Easy
A theoretical Zombies game may not be all sunshine, Gobblegums and rainbows. We’re a vocal, engaged community, but how big is the mode really? Are enough of us investing our time and money into it? It shouldn’t matter, but realistically, it does. Activision isn’t going to greenlight a project unless it can turn a decent profit. Zombies striking out on its own would instantly put a large target on its back. If the game flops, there’s nowhere to hide. And if shareholders demand to know why the new experimental Call of Duty offshoot isn’t making enough money, it would face heavy scrutiny.
There’s a level of comfort that comes from Zombies being just one pillar of a larger game. When you continue to see games like Concord and Highguard crash and burn, maybe playing it safe and staying ingrained in COD-proper is better for the long-term health of the mode. Not to mention, a standalone game would likely require a massive overhaul of Call of Duty’s workflow. With so many different studios contributing to each release, it wouldn’t be as simple as picking the Treyarch Zombies team up and dropping them onto a new Zombies project isolated from the rest of the franchise.
While it’s frustrating that we could be looking at two years of nothing while the Multiplayer and Warzone communities have nothing to worry about, it’s important that we – and the people working on the mode – never get sick of the sight of Zombies. Imagine a Zombies game releasing in 2028 that still uses the same systems and mechanics as Black Ops 6 and Black Ops 7, which are already criticised for being too similar. We’d be stuck with another three years of that style of Zombies. Ideally, the next time we see the mode after Black Ops 7, it will have undergone another morbid evolution.
There’s also the added dilemma of how additional weapons would fit into the mode. It sounds like so much of a headache that I don’t even want to think about it. I’d love to say a Zombies game could be completely independent from the free-to-play side of Call of Duty, but we know that wouldn’t be the case. Cross-progression of weapons and levels drives player engagement. Even a Zombies-only game would still have Warzone joined at the hip.
There’s the difficult question of how the game would be monetised. Modern Zombies provides all post-launch content at no additional cost, leaving the mode to be supported by bundles, Gobblegums and its connection to the battlepass system. Many believe a return to the Season Pass format would increase quality. It’s not that simple. However, I can think of a smaller benefit of returning to it.
Imagine the standalone Zombies game flopping in its third year and starting to run at a loss after Year 3, Map 1 launches. Is Activision really going to let Treyarch push out another three or four maps, or would it put the game into maintenance mode and shift all attention to the next proj–sorry–Zombies 2? At least with a Season Pass, you’re covered for the entire year. Although, depending on how you feel about the back half of Black Ops 4, that might be a bad thing!
Is the guarantee of content better for the game than letting all players experience post-launch maps free of charge? I’m not sure. I’d be fine re-upping support for the game through a yearly pass, but I also don’t want players to be priced out of Zombies. My pick would be whatever gives the mode a better chance of long-term success. Let the bigwigs figure it out.
I should mention that players frequently dabble between the different pillars of a Call of Duty game. The loss of a meaty annual package would not go down well, especially if they suddenly had to pay more for what was previously included in a traditional release. I can already picture the £140 “Combo” Vault Edition.
Big Bang Theory
I could write another thousand about this, but I’ll call it there. As you can see, there are so many intricacies when it comes to a potential Call of Duty Zombies game. Ultimately, what most players want to see is a commitment to the future of the mode, regardless of format. The opportunity for Treyarch to deliver on its vision of the undead, uncompromised and unrestricted by the bleed-your-players-dry, work-your-developers-to-the-bone rigmarole of live-service Call of Duty.
Zombies will always fight for air against the other parts of Call of Duty, but I think the entire modern era would have played out differently if Black Ops 4 had gone to plan. There was real hope we would get a fully supported Year Two, but we know how that ended: budget cuts and Cold War beckoned. It’s hard not to get lost in the “What ifs” of Zombies. There are so many! But that one will always sting. If there was ever a chance for Zombies to go it alone, it was back then.
That’s not to say there will never be a standalone Zombies game one day. It’s unlikely, and this latest news doesn’t change much, but stranger things have happened. DLC 5 was once thought impossible, yet Zombies Chronicles rose from the Aether and smashed PlayStation Store records. If it ever did happen, I’d back it to the moon. You might even find me locking myself in the M.P.D. to make sure it succeeds. Better to keep my feet on the ground and focus on the rest of Black Ops 7 for now, though. There’s a lot more Zombies to come.
