Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Zombies' Player Count All…

Summary

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Zombies will feature an open world map and extraction gameplay, making it more comparable to Outbreak than Treyarch's traditional round-based content.
It is believed that the map will support four squads of six players each, which could lead to larger hordes and massive boss fights, but it may also mean a lack of complex Easter eggs.
The shift toward a large player count and extraction gameplay may make it difficult for players to coordinate and complete deep quests, suggesting that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Zombies will offer less quests compared to previous games in the series.

The cinematic trailer for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Zombies has gotten fans of the Dark Aether story talking due to some major deaths being revealed, but those who love Zombies for its gameplay are unsure of what to expect from the mode. With an open world map and a shift toward extraction gameplay confirmed, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 fans will be in for something more comparable to Outbreak than Treyarch’s traditional round-based content. With such a big map coming, the suggestion that four squads of six players will be present on the map is believable, though it would likely come with a huge downside.

Obviously, there can be upsides to having so many players in one Zombies map. Players could experience bigger hordes than ever before while competing against other teams like in the cult classic Grief mode from Black Ops 2. Additionally, boss fights could be massive, with players fighting even bigger versions of the Orda enemies from Black Ops Cold War or entirely new giant enemies. Still, it is important to consider the potential downsides of such a shift, and the biggest is that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will likely lack complex Easter eggs.

Fans of CoD Zombies’ Complicated Quests May Be Disappointed in MW3

An undead soldier rises in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's Zombies mode.

Ever since the Call of Duty: Black Ops map Ascension introduced the mode’s first main quest, Treyarch has leaned more and more into deep Easter eggs for its community to discover. Complex ciphers are available to decipher that provide hidden lore messages, while weapon upgrade quests and buildables serve as things players do every single game. With Black Ops Cold War’s bunny Easter eggs and the always enjoyable hidden songs to consider too, side quests have become as integral to Zombies as perks like Juggernog and Wonder Weapons like the Ray Gun.

However, despite Easter eggs being a huge part of Call of Duty Zombies, there is reason to believe that Treyarch may be avoiding them this time around. While “secrets” have been promised for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Zombies, these could range from intel like Black Ops Cold War to simple Wonder Weapon upgrades being hidden around the map like in Outbreak. After all, if 24 players are indeed going to be present in every Modern Warfare 3 Zombies match, then deep quests seem impossible, as Treyarch would be designing content that is painfully hard to access.

Longtime Call of Duty Zombies fans will undoubtedly remember public match experiences on maps like Moon and Shangri-La where random players refused to cooperate with activating or going to the Pack-a-Punch machine. Coordinating with players outside a friend group on Easter eggs was even more difficult, as good communication is required - something that simply does not happen often in lobbies that are filled with players of all experience levels. Since gamers often struggle to coordinate four players to work on Easter eggs, it is tough to imagine 24 different players working as one unit.

This would be a genuine shame, but considering how few Easter eggs there were in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s Outbreak beyond the main quest, it seems more likely than not. Perhaps there will be some simple Easter eggs scattered around the map, but a deep quest of any kind simply does not seem viable - meaning Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Zombies could offer even less quests than Outbreak did. Even if Easter eggs were squad specific and asked for the cooperation of only six players, issues could arise due to a single map being shared with three other squads.

Considering the extraction style that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Zombies will be embracing, players are unlikely to even be spending enough time in each match to complete long-winded quests. When adding on the large player counts, players should go into MW3 Zombies expecting little to do beyond the core gameplay loop. This would mark the latest misstep in an unfortunate run for Easter egg fans. Black Ops Cold War leaned into easier quests on purpose, and offered less of them compared to BO3 and BO4, while Vanguard had nearly no secrets to uncover in most of its maps. MW3 Zombies continuing this trend would be disappointing, but all signs point to that being the case. Hopefully, Call of Duty 2024 Zombies goes all-in on Easter eggs, as fans are suffering through quite the drought.