In 2008, Activision and Treyarch released Call of Duty: World at War, and it featured a unique mini-game that players could unlock by beating the campaign. Call of Duty: World at War's unlockable Nazi Zombies mode became a surprise success, prompting Treyarch and Activision to release DLC maps for it and later expand on the experience in the Treyarch-developed Call of Duty: Black Ops and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2.
Nazi Zombies later became known simply as "Zombies," and remained one of the Call of Duty franchise's most popular game modes whenever Treyarch was at the helm. Other Call of Duty studios took swings at Zombies, with varying degrees of success. For example, the Exo Zombies from Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare proved somewhat polarizing, with some fans enjoying the game's increased mobility, while others felt it was too much of a departure from the established Zombies formula.
As more Call of Duty games released, the more they strayed from Zombies' roots, taking the concept into fantastical directions and having an over-focus on "special" zombie types and gimmicks. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's take on Zombies was noted for having a completely busted split-screen co-op feature, while Call of Duty: Vanguard's Zombies represents a low point for the fan favorite game mode.
Call of Duty: Vanguard's Zombies has not been well-received by the community. It moves away from the round-based structure of previous Zombies game modes, and like other recent iterations of Zombies, bogs itself down with goofy gimmicks. Not only that, but Call of Duty: Vanguard Zombies is incredibly easy, offering little to no challenge for longtime Zombies fans, giving them little reason to return after trying it once.
The upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is not expected to have a Zombies mode. Modern Warfare 2 developer Infinity Ward has experimented with Zombies in the past, as seen in Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, but has otherwise stuck with its own extra modes, like Spec Ops in the original version of MW2 from 2009 and the alien-based co-op mode Extinction from Call of Duty: Ghosts. The extra game mode this year is rumored to be an Escape from Tarkov-inspired mode called DMZ, though it has yet to be revealed in an official capacity.
Regardless of what new game mode the upcoming 2022 version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare has on offer, it seems safe to say that Zombies is taking a break this year. It's expected that a Treyarch-developed Call of Duty game will be releasing in 2023, and if so, one has to imagine that Zombies will be making a comeback. However, if Zombies does come back in the 2023 Call of Duty game, it should return to its roots.
There's a reason why the old-school Call of Duty Zombies experience remains popular to this day. The concept was simple and easy to understand: kill zombies, rebuild structures, spend points to unlock new areas. Some maps played with this set-up, like Black Ops 2's TranZit map, but they did so without piling on a slew of other gameplay mechanics that over-complicated matters. There are ways to make the classic Zombies experience feel new again, and that's something the 2023 Call of Duty game should strive for.
Instead of trying to create a brand-new Zombies experience, it may be more beneficial in the long run for Treyarch to instead release the 2023 Call of Duty game with a collection of remastered Zombies maps. It could take the most popular Zombies maps from past games and recreate them for modern audiences, improving the graphics and making other tweaks as necessary, while still maintaining what made the maps popular with fans in the first place.
There are many Call of Duty fans who would gladly take the opportunity to relive classic maps like Ascension, Kino der Toten, TranZit, and more with their friends on modern consoles instead of taking a gamble on a brand-new Zombies map that may not really hit the mark.
Then again, there is Microsoft's pending acquisition of Activision to keep in mind. For those who may not be aware, Microsoft is in the process of acquiring Activision Blizzard in the largest video game acquisition deal of all-time. If the deal goes through, Microsoft will have control of all of Activision's franchises, including Call of Duty. This means that Call of Duty games would come to Xbox Game Pass as day one releases, plus older Call of Duty games would be added to the lineup as well. This would make classic Zombies maps much more accessible to fans, as they wouldn't have to pay $50 for ancient games to access them like they're being asked to do now. This could fill the void for classic Zombies maps, and then perhaps fans would be more perceptive to Treyarch experimenting with a new Zombies map - as long as it sticks to its roots and doesn't go overboard with the gimmicks.
There also rumors a standalone Call of Duty Zombies game, but that has yet to be proven. For now, Call of Duty fans can keep their eyes on the upcoming Modern Warfare 2 while they speculate about what Treyarch may have in store for them in 2023.