Is there an Easter egg in Call of Duty: Cold War's Outbreak mode?

cod outbreak easter egg
(Image credit: Treyarch)

Is there a CoD Outbreak Easter egg yet? Not quite, but that doesn't mean there isn't stuff to find in Treyarch's zombie-infested mini open worlds. If you haven't taken advantage of the free week in Cold War yet and dived into Outbreak, it has you and a squad exploring the Ural Mountains and completing objectives to access new, tougher areas, all while fending off the undead horde.

Personally, I'm not really into it so far, but I do accept the positives that Jeremy highlights: he says Outbreak is the Call of Duty Zombies mode we need right now, mentioning that there's just enough threat in the early stages to casually kill zombies while keeping up a much-needed conversation with friends. I find the beginning a bit slow and grindy, myself.

Anyway, like the CoD Firebase Z Easter egg and the first Cold War Zombies Easter egg, there's more to do than just make a beeline for each main objective and have a natter. Typically in Treyarch's Zombies modes there's a big secret to be found, something that invariably involves complicated hoops to jump through and a lot of time. So, is there an Easter egg in Outbreak? Here's everything you need to know.

CoD Outbreak Easter egg: Is there one yet?

Not yet. Usually there's a big secret of some description at, or soon after launch of a new Zombies mode. That said, speaking to various websites and content creators at the end of February 2021, Treyarch confirmed that a main quest and Easter egg are on the way to Outbreak. 

One of those creators was MrRoflWaffles, who explained that the main quest Easter eggs is planned for Season 3. A season of Warzone and Cold War is around two months, so that means we may be able to start our Easter egg hunt towards the end of April/start of May. Naturally I'll keep this page updated with any developments, but it's encouraging (at least for Jeremy, if not me) that Outbreak is something Treyarch intends to support at least in the medium term, rather than it being a distraction from standard Cold War Zombies and Multiplayer.

So, are there any secrets in Outbreak?

Technically, yes, but it looks like we're still waiting for fully fleshed-out side quests and Easter eggs. That said, we do know that it is possible to get the Wonder Weapons from both Firebase Z and standard Cold War Zombies—the R.A.I. K84 and Ray Gun—and players have reported jump-scare zombies posing as chests.

The closest thing to a side quest involves the Dragon Relic, which appears to be a reference to the activity in Black Ops 3. It's location is indicated by the symbol of a dragon head on the map. There you need to kill a number of Zombies inside a purple circle in return for loot.

The thing is, also according to MrRoflWaffles, Treyarch explained that the focus at the moment is intel. Collectible artifact intel can currently be found across the Outbreak map and can be collected in Trials, providing XP and details that hint at future updates and seasons. For now, though, we'll have to keep an eye on the mode after each update, so you'd better start getting used to the zombie-infested Ural Mountains.

Harry Shepherd

UK — After collecting and devouring piles of print gaming guides in his younger days, Harry has been creating 21st century versions for the past five years as Guides Writer at PCGamesN and Guides Editor at PC Gamer. He has also produced features, reviews, and even more guides for Trusted Reviews, TechRadar and Top Ten Reviews. He's been playing and picking apart PC games for over two decades, from hazy memories of what was probably a Snake knock-off on his first rig when he was seven to producing informative guides on football simulators, open-world role-playing games, and shooters today. So many by now he steadfastly refuses to convey information unless it’s in clickable online form.