Call of Duty Zombies, also simply known as Zombies, is a recurring game mode in the Call of Duty series of first-person shooter video games published by Activision. Players in the mode are put up against an endless horde of zombies, and are forced to survive for as long as possible. Killing zombies grants the players points, which can be used to obtain more powerful weapons and unlock new areas of the map. The waves of zombies progressively increase in difficulty, becoming faster and having increased health. Additional features available to the player in most versions of the mode include "Perk-a-Colas", which can upgrade players abilities, and a "Pack-a-Punch" machine that allows players to upgrade their weapons. Many maps feature easter eggs and quests, which players can interact with and complete. These range from quests that trigger secret songs to those that progress the overarching storyline of the Zombies mode.

The mode was originally introduced with Call of Duty: World at War (2008), which was developed by Treyarch. The concept for the Zombies mode was created by Treyarch designer Jesse Snyder, who based the concept off of a scrapped mode for the game where players would defend against Allied soldiers during the Normandy landings. Although the mode was almost cancelled by studio head Mark Lamia, due to its creation while the game was behind schedule and the risk behind the mode, it was later included in the final game under the clause that the mode only be a bonus feature unlocked after completing the game's campaign. The mode was later unlocked to all players and received several new maps in the form of downloadable content (DLC). Several future games in the Call of Duty series—mainly titles part of the Black Ops sub-series—would go on to feature their own iteration of the Zombies mode, introducing new mechanics to the mode as well as progressing the overarching story of the series. The mode has been featured in thirteen Call of Duty games, with its most recent appearance being in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 (2025).

Zombies is one of the most popular modes in the Call of Duty series, with the Zombies mode being a main reason for many players to purchase the game. Dedicated communities exist for the mode related to its easter eggs, while games such as Call of Duty: Black Ops III (2015) remained popular five years after release due to the mode, despite later iterations. Two standalone versions of the Zombies mode have been released for mobile devices: Call of Duty: World at War – Zombies (2009) and Call of Duty: Black Ops – Zombies (2011). A standalone Zombies game was being developed by Raven Software from 2011 to 2012 before being cancelled. A comic book series based on the mode, written by Justin Jordan and published by Dark Horse Comics, was released starting in February 2016. Two soundtrack albums containing music from the mode's history have been released, specifically in 2011 and 2013.

Overview

Gameplay

Zombies is a co-operative game mode in the Call of Duty series of first-person shooter video games, usually titles part of the Black Ops sub-series. The mode puts players up against an endless horde of zombies, and requires them to survive for as long as possible. Killing zombies grants players points, which can be used to unlock additional areas in the map and acquire more powerful weapons. Each wave of zombies progressively increases in difficulty, with zombies becoming faster and being able to take more damage before dying. Maps also typically feature a "mystery box", which allows the player to obtain a randomly-selected weapon, as well as "wall-buys", which are chalk outlines of weapons found on walls around the map, allowing the player to choose a specific weapon to buy.The box also allows players to acquire more unique weapons specifically to the Zombies mode, such as a "wonder weapons". Wonder weapons are unique, fictional weapons that are generally powerful, with the ray gun being the first wonder weapon introduced in World at War. Several wonder weapons are exclusive to their own single map, with some being attained through completion of quests or building instead of through the mystery box. Specific maps sometimes include additional gadgets or traps that can be used to fend off zombies.

Players are able to drink "Perk-a-Colas" (generally referred to as simply "perks"), which are scattered around the map and upgrade their stats or offer unique abilities. Examples of perks include "Juggernog", which increases the players health, or "Stamin-Up", which increases their walk and sprint speed. Players can also upgrade their weapons with the maps "Pack-a-Punch" machine. Many Zombies maps include easter eggs, which allow the players to interact with specific map objects. These range from quests that trigger secret songs to those that progress the overarching storyline of the Zombies mode. Later iterations of the mode would add major easter eggs, known as a "main quest", to each map.

Setting Settings for Zombies maps span across the world during several points in history, such as World War I, World War II, and the Prohibition era. Settings for maps across iterations of the Zombies modes include a fantastical interpretation of Stalingrad with fire-breathing dragons ("Gorod Krovi"), the Pentagon ("Five"), and the Moon. The earliest Zombies maps were oriented around Nazi zombies. In addition, the Zombies modes feature a storyline that spans across the modes iterations across several games, including Call of Duty: World at War (2008), Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010), Call of Duty: Black Ops II (2012), and Call of Duty: Black Ops III (2015). Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (2018) continued the story in the form of the "Aether" storyline while also introducing the "Chaos" story, which runs independently from the Aether storyline. Black Ops 4 also served as the conclusion of the Aether storyline.

With Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (2020), Treyarch soft-rebooted the Zombies story with an alternate dimension known as the Dark Aether. The dimension was created during the ending of the Zombies mode in Black Ops 4, when several alternate timelines and dimensions from the Zombies universe were sealed into one. The Dark Aether storyline was later continued with Call of Duty: Vanguard (2021), Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023), and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (2024). Other games with Zombies feature their own, independent themes from other games, such as Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (2016), which has a futuristic theme and maps inspired by horror movies from the 1980s.

History

Creation and World at War The concept for the Zombies mode was created by Treyarch designer Jesse Snyder during the development of Call of Duty: World at War. The idea came after several developers of the game wanted to include a bonus stage in the game, similar to what the preceding game in the series, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007) had. Their original idea was to create a minigame where players took on the role of German soldiers fighting off waves of Allied attackers at the Normandy landings, though this was scrapped. Later in the game's development, another developer at Treyarch stated that the in-game animations for Japanese soldiers after getting hit by rockets "looked like zombies". Hearing this, Snyder took inspiration from a zombie defense Flash game, The Last Stand, and combined it with the concept of "being over run and not really being able to win", deviating from the series tradition of "[feeling] invincible, that when things go wrong you'll be okay, and that everyone lives to see the next day". A small team began working on the Zombies mode, with developers from other parts of Treyarch beginning to chip in.

When Treyarch studio head Mark Lamia heard about the modes existence, he initially tried to shut it down, due to the state of development at the time and how they were behind schedule. However, when he played the mode for himself, he decided that the mode had to be finished and put into the final game. He believed Activision would likely not accept the mode, fearing that it would be "doing something so off with such a successful brand", and would likely be too ridiculous to market. He decided to let the popularity of the mode spread throughout the development team rather than pitch the mode formally. An agreement was reached where the mode would not be marketed as part of the game, and would only be unlockable after players completed the game's campaign as a bonus mode. The mode was later unlocked for everyone after the mode proved to be popular amongst players. Originally, the mode only had one map: "Nacht der Untoten", and was known as "Nazi Zombies". Downloadable content (DLC) was later released for the game that added new Zombies maps. The first map to be added via DLC was "Verrückt", which expanded upon the gameplay mechanics of "Nacht der Untoten" by adding Perk-a-Colas, traps, and a power switch. It was later followed by "Shi no Numa" and "Der Riese". During this period, a recurring cast of playable protagonists was introduced: Edward Richtofen, Tank Dempsey, Takeo Masaki, and Nikolai Belinski, who would go on to feature across multiple later titles in the series. A fourth DLC was being worked on for World at War, with three Zombies maps being planned for it, although development of it was halted so that developers could focus on Call of Duty: Black Ops. All three maps were repurposed for Black Ops and its DLC. A standalone mobile version of the Zombies mode in World at War, Call of Duty: World at War – Zombies, was released in 2009.

Later iterations Black Ops launched with two Zombies maps: "Kino der Toten", set within an abandoned Nazi theatre, and "Five", set within The Pentagon. In "Five" players can play as real-life politicians John F. Kennedy, Fidel Castro, Richard Nixon, and Robert McNamara.Bache, H.-J. and Aarseth, E. (2023). Ludic Zombies: An Examination of Zombieism in Games. [online] Available at: https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/79294327/paper_405-libre.pdf?1642796132=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DLudic_Zombies_An_Examination_of_Zombieis.pdf&Expires=1777804753&Signature=Hp4g6OALGifzhZBkaKmg3cZW8pDqOgg8zC~uEob5KuKZ8VV7Zw~Y0MekrUtKUQpizoaYCkvwyzzeDY0UYTNe0q2ymbyz32tM1qz7kUBEkwa9l6bDqQaSJ3GSRw6e4YyeO-AZBpMvEaSheKQa9rBerJNbtbKiTl5cZiaBIQ756Gfiw8jr1V~CY5A5hb9lZM-U7eh~8UPRYdzcKDjSXxN~frGP5H3dVgXXV6m7gKKWrhyETseE3qNlbCj3aZz~4jgAs0SMPUI7w1La7Yc7nXpE3s14VQ8hO75VRwggLz3UW36tOxo-5Bx--hdCUrBlhaXHfTN51PsnxW2xLyVbNFd~kQ__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA#page=1.00 [Accessed 3 May 2026].

‌ Also included in the game was a new Zombies-based mode called Dead Ops Arcade. Like World at War, the game received DLC that introduced new Zombies maps to the game, starting with "Ascension". It was followed by "Call of the Dead", "Shangri-La", and "Moon", the last of which was released alongside remastered versions of all four Zombies maps from World at War. The playable crew in "Call of the Dead" were all voiced by celebrity actors, which would be occasionally repeated in later iterations. Like with World at War, a standalone version of the Zombies mode from Black Ops for mobile devices was released in 2011.