CoD: Vanguard Zombies mode developed by Treyarch; continues Cold War story

Keshav Bhat
Zombies in Call of Duty: Vanguard

Zombies are officially returning in Call of Duty: Vanguard, but fans are in for a surprise as Sledgehammer Games’ studio head has confirmed that Treyarch is leading the development of the mode. 

Call of Duty: Vanguard’s third mode is confirmed to be Zombies, and fans of the Black Ops series interpretation of the undead will be excited to hear that Treyarch are once again running point on it this year.

Vanguard’s Zombies mode will be included with any edition of Call of Duty: Vanguard. Players who want to experience the Zombies mode will have to purchase Vanguard.

Black Ops Cold War Zombies

Sledgehammer Games’ Studio Head Aaron Halon confirmed during a press briefing that Vanguard’s Zombies is a prologue to Cold War’s mode, and will act as a continuation of the Dark Aether storyline

This will be the first time in franchise history that the development of a co-op mode will be continued by the same developer year to year. In years past, the co-op modes have switched development studios, even if the mode was Zombies.

It’s a significant shift for Activision and the development team. This means that Sledgehammer Games’ team has been focused exclusively on the Campaign and Multiplayer modes of Call of Duty: Vanguard. How it affects Treyarch’s future development pipeline is yet to be seen. 

Cold War Zombies in Season 4

Sledgehammer Games’ 2017 Call of Duty: WWII had its own Zombies mode that was led by their own team and had its own story. With Vanguard’s Zombies being Dark Aether related, there will be no follow-up to the CoD WWII’s Zombies mode or story.  

Black Ops Cold War has so far had 3 maps, one at launch, plus two DLC maps, alongside the launch of the open-world Outbreak mode

Treyarch recently confirmed that there’s another Zombies map in development for Black Ops Cold War, but a release date for the map has not been announced.

In the meantime, players will be able to get their hands on the game over the coming weeks and months, and we have everything you need to take part in the upcoming Vanguard Alpha and Open Beta tests.

Image Credits: Activision / Treyarch

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About The Author

Keshav Bhat is the Co-Founder of CharlieIntel.com, the world's largest Call of Duty news site. Based in Atlanta, Keshav also serves as the Head of Social Media for Dexerto network, running a network of over 10 million social followers. Keshav can be contacted for tips at [email protected]