In the Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 multiplayer beta trailer that dropped earlier this week, publisher Activision and developer Treyarch also managed to include a brief snippet of gameplay for the Blackout mode. The teaser hints at which locations players will visit in the battle royale mode, also confirming one very exciting, but previously unannounced feature.

Eagle-eyed Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 fans have discovered that the new multiplayer beta trailer confirms that zombies will feature in the Blackout mode. The footage flickers from scene to scene, showing wavy lines on the screen in between clips of action. This isn't just for effect, though, as fans have been able to pause the video on these glitchy images for a closer look. In screenshots of the distortion, embedded below, zombies can be seen shambling down a staircase on the left side of the screen.

Interestingly, the location seen in these zombies clips appears to be Verruckt, a map from the very first Zombies game mode in 2008's Call of Duty: World at War. It's unclear if Blackout's zombies will only be found in Zombies-related locations, but fans of the map are excited nonetheless.

While this is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it teaser, it's unlikely to be an accident. When the Blackout game mode was announced during the Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 reveal event in May, Treyarch confirmed that the mode would feature plenty of returning content from the series, including fan favorite characters. Many would argue that given how important zombies are to the Call of Duty franchise, it would make sense to include the iconic enemies in Blackout too.

Moreover, including zombies would allow Blackout to compete in a sea of other battle royale games. Fortnite's narrative co-op mode Save The World features Husks which are zombie-like enemies and it has also explored player-controlled supernatural enemies in its Battle Royale mode with comic book enemy Thanos. PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds also lets players face off against zombies which are controlled by other players. So, Blackout would need to feature zombies too just to keep up.

Blackout's map is rumored to be smaller than that of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and Fortnite, but the strength of the Black Ops brand and its canon may be enough to draw players in. The fact that the series' lore informs so much about the mode (Blackout even borrows from several iconic multiplayer maps, according to the teaser) is what could set it apart from its rivals. That Call of Duty is late to the battle royale game also puts Blackout at a disadvantage, but by including characters such as Zombies, it may just be able to even the scales.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is set to launch on October 12, 2018 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.