Zombies Will Return To Round-Based Maps!

Treyarch have announced their plans to return to the traditional round-based Zombies format for Call of Duty: Vanguard. Here are the details, and a probable release date for the round-based maps.

Zombies update
It's back to basics for the beloved Zombies mode. | © Activision Blizzard

Zombies began in 2008 with Call of Duty: World at War, and the round-based formula that those early maps used continued all the way up until the release of Vanguard. It just worked. Sure, they complicated it with Easter eggs and such, but they didn't abandon the core structure until the poorly received Vanguard version of Zombies. But now they've tried something else, and they've seen it doesn't work, so it looks like they're returning to that older style. Here's what we know so far.

Round-Based Zombies Coming To Vanguard

Following the negative response to Call of Duty: Vanguard's first two Zombies maps, Treyarch have announced plans to return to the classic round-based formula. Here's what they had to say:

It’s happening. With the launches of “Der Anfang” and “Terra Maledicta” wrapped up and our seasonal updates out in the wild, the Vanguard Zombies team is focusing its efforts on the groundwork required to bring round-based Zombies to Vanguard.

This is a far more difficult task than most fans might assume. It's not just a case of changing one setting, and so it's going to take them a little time. But, they were upfront about this:

This involves extensive systems development from the ground-up in a variety of areas, including the design, implementation, and testing of round-based wave spawning and AI pathing, zoning systems, fast travel mechanics, Door Buys, Wall Buys, and plenty more.

The community have been almost unanimous in asking for this change, so we're sure it's going to go down well.

When Will The Round-Based Zombies Map Be Released?

The first round-based Zombies map in Vanguard, "Shi No Numa Reborn", will not be released until at least Season 4, so probably some time in early July. This is obviously not the news we had hoped for, but as the devs explain:

If we could wave a magic wand and play the map right now with the rest of you, we would... in the meantime, we hope this offers a clearer picture of what goes into crafting a Zombies experience for the community.

As they make clear, there's a lot that needs to go into this map, especially if they're giving up on the non-round-based model they had been experimenting with so far in Vanguard. So as much as we too would like to play this map during Season 3, it's probably for the best that they're giving themselves more time to perfect it.

Until then, why not enjoy one of the older CoD: Zombies? They still hold up all these years later...

Jon Ramuz

Jon has a BA and an MA in English Literature, and as Content Lead for EarlyGame has written over 1,500 articles. He focuses on shooters, but also writes about entertainment and gaming in general....