2023's Call of Duty title has been the source of a lot of controversy already, despite so little official information being known about the game. Reports about what the release will entail have conflicted massively in recent months, although recent leaks seem to have finally nailed down what kind of experience the title will provide.
Aside from reported details about 2023's Call of Duty campaign and multiplayer, it has also been reported that the game will feature its own Zombies mode. While Zombies has been a hugely successful game mode for CoD in the past, the lack of involvement from Treyarch in the upcoming title could spell disaster. When considering how similar modes have been received in the past, 2023's CoD seems dangerously close to repeating past franchise mistakes.
Call of Duty's History with Non-Treyarch Zombies Modes
The Zombies mode first came to Call of Duty with 2008's World at War, spearheaded by Treyarch. A tense and addictive mode, Zombies would go on to become a staple of Treyarch's influence over Call of Duty, appearing extensively throughout the Black Ops franchise. With Treyarch's Zombies experiences being so iconic, it is perhaps unsurprising that other CoD studios found less success with different takes on the mode.
For example, non-Treyarch Zombies modes include the Exo Zombies of Advanced Warfare, as well as modes for Infinite Warfare and WW2. While some of these found a level of success, such as IW's Zombies in Spaceland, these modes are significant flops when compared to their Treyarch-led counterparts. The franchise has a fairly terrible track record when it comes to Zombies modes outside of Treyarch's influence, and it appears a similar situation could arise in 2023's Call of Duty installment.
Call of Duty 2023's Reported Zombies Mode
It was originally thought that 2023 would see no mainline Call of Duty release, although this early theory has now completely pivoted. Recent reports indicate that 2023 will see a premium CoD release in Modern Warfare 3, bringing the rebooted MW trilogy to a close. This release will reportedly be led by Sledgehammer Games, oddly taking the trilogy away from Infinity Ward who released Modern Warfare 2 only a year ago.
These reports also point toward a Zombies mode being developed for Modern Warfare 3, which of course will have no input from Treyarch. This mode is set to work akin to the Outbreak mode of Black Ops Cold War. A step away from the traditional round-based Zombies experience, Outbreak provides players with much larger environments that can be traveled between, with things like primary and secondary objectives populating each zone.
This in and of itself is quite controversial, with Cold War's Outbreak having its own criticisms for its deviation from the original Zombies formula. While it may be easier for Sledgehammer Games to create a well-received Zombies experience via the Outbreak formula, it remains that the most memorable Zombies modes come from Treyarch's original framework.
Given the concerns that are already being raised around 2023's reported Call of Duty, it seems doubly risky that the release may include its own Zombies mode. Past franchise experiments have clearly indicated a lack of success without Treyarch's involvement, and it may be difficult for Sledgehammer Games to break this trend. With more creative freedom being present with the Outbreak formula of Zombies, it remains to be seen whether Sledgehammer Games will find success with a Zombies mode if all these rumors do culminate in truth and fruition later this year.
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 is rumored to be in development for a 2023 release.