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Windows Central

Technology

Cole Martin

Will Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 have a Zombies mode?

Activision Call of Duty Treyarch Studios Treyarch

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Zombies intel drop includes loadouts, enemy details, and augment explainers.

Will Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 have a Zombies mode?

Zombies have become an integral part of the Black Ops series, but there was fan speculation that the third mode would go the way of Warzone by becoming an annual refresh of 2023's Modern Warfare Zombies. Will Black Ops 6 have its own rendition of Zombies, or is something new up Treyarch's sleeve for a third mode?

Yes! Round-based Zombies will return in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. The game will feature a prequel of the Zombies "Dark Aether" storyline, taking place on two maps at launch: Terminus and Liberty Falls. Players can look forward to the return of classic Zombies features like GobbleGums, perk-a-colas, and wonder weapons in this year's iteration of the popular mode.

Treyarch Studios and the rest of the Call of Duty team shared some details on Zombies Mode in a pre-Call of Duty: Next intel drop. However, as the game nears it's official launch on October 25, more info has become available about the much-anticipated return to a more classic, round-based Zombies gameplay model.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Zombies—Maps

Terminus Island

Terminus Island is a former mining operation in the Pacific Ocean that has seen days as a WWII resupply depot, a CIA Blacksite, and the home of a lab of terrors created under the Project Janus group.

Terminus Island POI: Security Overlook and Control Center. (Image credit: Activision)

Terminus Island POI: Living Quarters, Storage, and Mess Hall. (Image credit: Activision)

Terminus Island POI: Sea Tower. (Image credit: Activision)

Terminus Island POI: Gun Battery Platform. (Image credit: Activision)

Terminus Island POI: Sea Caves and Mining Tunnels. (Image credit: Activision)

Terminus Island POI: Bio Lab. (Image credit: Activision)

Terminus Island POI: Inclined Lift and Mag Elevator. (Image credit: Activision)

Terminus Island POI: Shipwreck. (Image credit: Activision)

Terminus Island POI: The Outer Islands. (Image credit: Activision)

Players can expect to fight the hordes of the undead and other untold horrors at the following points of interest on Terminus Island:

Cells and Guard Station
Security Overlook and Control Center
Living Quarters, Storage, and Mess Hall
Sea Tower
Gun Battery Platform
Sea Caves and Mining Tunnels
Bio Lab
Inclined Lift and Maglev Elevator
Shipwreck
The Outer Islands

Liberty Falls

Liberty Falls, set in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia, was revealed during Call of Duty Next 2024, but reactions from players were mixed. Many in the community took issue with the map's brightness and overall ambiance. As a result, Treyarch Studios has taken Liberty Falls back to the drawing board and adjusted the map's atmosphere ahead of launch.

Liberty Falls POI: Motor Lodge (Image credit: Activision)

Liberty Falls POI: Olly's Comics (Image credit: Activision)

Liberty Falls POI: Fuller's Liberty Lanes (Image credit: Activision)

Liberty Falls POI: Savings and Loan (Image credit: Activision)

Liberty Falls POI: Holy Falls Church (Image credit: Activision)

Liberty Falls POI: "The Alamo" (Image credit: Activision)

Players can expect to fight the hordes of the undead and other untold horrors at the following points of interest on Liberty Falls:

Pump & Pay
Motor Lodge
Olly's Comics
Fuller's Liberty Lanes
Savings & Loan
Holy Falls Church
"The Alamo"

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Zombies—Perks, Equipment, and Augments

Perk-a-Colas

Perk-a-Colas are perks that can be found in vending machines around the Zombies maps of Terminus Island and Liberty Falls. These perks offer boosts such as increased speed, faster teammate revives, and extra health. Eight perks will be available in Black Ops 6 at launch:

Jugger-Nog
Stamin-Up
Speed Cola
Deadshot Daiquiri
Quick Revive
Elemental Pop
PHD Flopper
Melee Macchiato.

Field Upgrades

Field Upgrades are a loadout item that can provide a boost to you or your team in your fight against the undead. They require a cooldown between uses. Players can swap their field upgrade during a match, but their cooldown will reset in doing so. The five Field Upgrades available at launch are:

Aether Shroud: Phase into the Dark Aether, becoming hidden from enemy detection. (Unlocked at lvl 47)
Frenzied Guard: Repair armor and force all enemies in the area to target you. During this time, kills repair a portion of your armor. (Unlocked at lvl 9)
Healing Aura: Summons beams of energy down on yourself and allies to instantly revive and heal to full health. (Unlocked at lvl 33)
Energy Mine: Create a mine of pure energy that detonates in rapid succession, dealing lethal electric damage. (Unlocked at lvl 0)
Dark Flare: You generate a massive energy beam that deals lethal shadow damage. The beam penetrates everything in its path. (Unlocked at lvl 20)

Augmentations

Black Ops 6 allows players to augment perk-a-colas, ammo mods, and field upgrades by researching performance modifiers. (Image credit: Activision)

If you ever wished your Jugger-nog perk-a-cola would let you inflict automatic damage or provide more durable armor, I have some good news for you. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will let players research Augments to equip their favorite equipment and upgrades. Augment research will unlock when a player reaches level 11 and researched augments can be equipped to perks, ammo mods, or field upgrades. There are 108 augments for players to discover, and they must be equipped to your loadout before starting a match.

Energy mine augmentation. (Image credit: Activision)

Jugger-Nog augmentation. (Image credit: Activision)

Each item that can be augmented will have two slots, one for a Major augmentation, and one for a Minor augmentation. There will be three of each augment type to choose from that will affect the behavior of the augmented item once you are in a game. Major augments offer substantial advantages, while Minor augments are more limited in usage. Stacking augments across your loadout can have dramatic effects on your upgrades and their effects, allowing you to fill a role in your squad to help with progression through rounds of the undead.

GobbleGums

Gobblegum packs are returning in Black Ops 6. (Image credit: Activision)

Gobblegums are a single-use power-up that players can equip to their loadout in Black Ops 6. Players can expect the hard shelled candies to come in a variety of rarities, including Rare, Epic, Legendary, Ultra and Whimsical. The higher the rarity, the more powerful the effect of the gobblegum—except for Whimsical Gobblegums. Those, sadly, are just for funsies and don't typically have an effect on actual zombies gameplay.

Rare GobbleGums

Stock Option: (Lasts one minute) Ammo is taken from the player’s stockpile instead of their weapon’s magazine.
Kill Joy: Spawns an Insta-Kill Power-Up.
Anywhere But Here!: Instantly teleport to a random location. A concussive blast knocks away nearby zombies.
Cache Back: Spawns a Max Ammo Power-Up
Temporal Gift: (Activates on Next Time-Based Power-Up) Power-Up lasts longer.
Shields Up: (Lasts three minutes) Armor is twice as strong.
Arsenal Accelerator: (Lasts five minutes) Charge the player’s Field Upgrade faster.

Epic GobbleGums

Nowhere But There!: Instantly teleport to a random downed player. Instantly revive nearby players.
Who’s Keeping Score?: Spawns a Double Points Power-Up.
Free Fire: (Lasts 60 seconds) Firing weapons consumes no ammo. Does not work with Wonder Weapons.
Soda Fountain: (Activates on Perk purchase) The next Perk purchased gives an additional random Perk.
Profit Sharing: (Lasts two minutes) A portion of the essence you earn is also received by nearby players and vice versa.
Respin Cycle: Re-spins the weapon in the Mystery Box after it has settled to one of equal or higher rarity.
Exit Strategy: Activate exfil vote immediately. Reduce zombie spawns during exfil.

Rare GobbleGums (Image credit: Activision)

Epic GobbleGums (Image credit: Activision)

Ultra and Whimsical GobbleGums (Image credit: Activision)

Legendary GobbleGums

Idle Eyes: (Lasts 30 seconds) All zombies ignore players and stand idle.
Wall Power: (Activates on Wall Buy) The next weapon bought off a wall comes Pack-A-Punched.
Crate Power: (Activates on Mystery Box spin) The next weapon taken from the Mystery Box comes Pack-A-Punched.
Phoenix Up: Revive all teammates and they keep their perks.
On the House: Spawns a Perk Can Power-Up.
Wall to Wall Clearance: (Lasts 30 Seconds) Wall Buys cost 10 Essence.
Immolation Liquidation: Spawns a Fire Sale Power-Up.

Ultra GobbleGums

Perkaholic: Gives the player all Perk-a-Colas in the map.
Near Death Experience: (Lasts three minutes) Revive or be revived simply by being near other players. Revived players keep all their perks.
Hidden Power: Upgrade your currently held weapon to Legendary rarity.
Wonderbar!: (Activates on next Mystery Box spin) The next weapon from the Mystery Box will be a Wonder Weapon.
Reign Drops: Spawns all the core Power-Ups at once.

Whimsical GobbleGums

Newtonian Negation: (Lasts three minutes) Zombies killed fall straight up.
Indiegestion: (Lasts three minutes) Zombies killed experience extreme flatulence.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Zombies—Player progression and barracks

Black Ops 6 Operator Maya Aguinaldo punches an armored Zombie. (Image credit: Activision)

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 players will be able to check their progression through Zombies' dedicated story by visiting the Barracks menu between matches. The challenge menu will provide access to checking progress toward weapon camos, calling cards, dark ops challenges, and mastery badges. Meanwhile, the Zombie Intel menu will provide a means to check on audio logs, documents, and artifacts discovered throughout your time on Terminus Island and Liberty Falls. Stats will show the player's Combat Record and medal collection, as well as where the player stands on the worldwide leaderboard.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 launches on October 25 on Xbox and PlayStation consoles, as well as on PC via the Microsoft Store, Steam, or Battle.net. Black Ops 6 preorders are available now. Players with select Xbox Game Pass subscriptions can play the game on Day One at no extra cost as part of their Game Pass subscription. Planning to play on PC? Check that your PC specs are Call of Duty ready.