Treyarch confirms Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Zombies with a cryptic tweet (Updated)

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So it begins.

Update: It's not as though there was any real doubt about it—birds fly, fish swim, Call of Duty Zombies—but for anyone who needs a little more convincing that the next Call of Duty will include its most famous, fan-favorite mode, Treyarch came across with this: 

Surprising it is not, but it is interesting, because it implies that Treyarch might be doing something different with the mode. Maybe it's giving it a Wolfenstein-style makeover, from B-movie silliness to the gravitas of, say, World War Z. (Your mileage may vary on that—feel free to insert your favorite "serious" zombie movie in its place.) Or maybe the rumor that Black Ops 4 won't have a single-player campaign is only half-true: Maybe Zombies is the campaign.

Eh, that's a stretch. But one way or another, yes, there will be zombies.

Original story:

We know very little about Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 aside from the fact of its existence. A Zombies mode, for instance: Will it have one? The answer is almost certainly yes (obviously), but it hasn't been confirmed yet and so we don't actually know. But a tweet from the official E3 account earlier that went out earlier today sure makes it sound likely. 

I can't imagine that Activision would put on a Zombies retrospective at E3 without having a zombies mode coming in Black Ops 4, which will be revealed a month ahead of E3. Sources have also previously suggested that Treyarch is actually putting greater effort into the Zombies element and other multiplayer components in lieu of a single-player campaign. With or without a campaign, the real surprise would be if Black Ops 4 didn't have a Zombies mode.   

Activision declined to confirm the presence of Zombies in Black Ops 4, but Activision Blizzard COO Coddy Johnson mentioned the mode during a recent earnings call while speaking about the company's confidence in Black Ops studio Treyarch. "It's an incredible developer with a deep understanding of the community and the first-person genre, but also a real proven track record of innovation, including Zombies and multiple multi-player innovations that have really transformed the industry," he said (via Seeking Alpha).   

He also made specific mention of the PC version in the same statement, adding, "We've invested significant dedicated resources and design time to make sure we can deliver a great PC game to serve that community." That bit is good to hear, even if it's not related to undead Nazis.

The full Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 reveal will take place on May 17. This year's E3 runs June 12-14.

Thanks, IGN.

Andy Chalk
Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.