Five Years Later, Call Of Duty: Black Ops 3’s Zombies Community Is Still Booming

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War marked a return to the incredibly popular Zombies mode after it wasn’t included in Modern Warfare. The mode, which is a big part of the Treyarch-developed Call of Duty games, is the reason many players purchase every edition of the yearly franchise.

The new Zombies mode only has one map, though. Treyarch has said that more maps and other additions to the mode are coming, but players already want more. If it’s just more content they want, they’ll find a wealth of options–and a very active community–in the five-year-old Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, which now features hundreds of player-made maps, skins, and other content.

Treyarch offers official modding tools to Black Ops 3 via the Steam Workshop, so players can create their ideal fight-til-you-die experience. Maps and other new additions include everything from My Little Pony skins to neon-lined diner levels. There are even recreations of movie locations like Shaun of the Dead’s Winchester bar and levels from other games like the Skeld in Among Us.

Call of Duty Black Ops 4, Modern Warfare, and subsequent games all the way up to Black Ops Cold War have only been released on Battle.net, Activision’s launcher. They don’t have any modding tools, in-depth level editors, or access to the suite of features in Steam’s Workshop. It’s easy to see why Black Ops 3 players have decided to stick around and enjoy a constant stream of player-made levels and in-game improvements.

Raven Software, one of Activision’s many studios that work on the Call of Duty franchise, has primarily dealt with Call of Duty: Warzone since it launched. However, the publisher has continued to release a new game every year. Players have to learn new mechanics, get used to new progression systems, and adapt to other changes on a yearly basis. Many players wish the publisher would stick to one game (and one Zombies mode) and update it regularly over time.

A handful of dedicated players have done just that, delivering a steady flow of new content to Black Ops 3’s Zombies mode. Some have even recreated their favorite maps from previous games, including the story beats that came in their Zombie modes. Der Riese: Declassified, a recreation from Call of Duty: World at War, is an example of one of those maps. Players argue that it’s just as good as some of the official maps released by Treyarch.

“What a classic map,” said Scornfulsix in a comment comparing the map to the original that was launched in 2008. “I couldn’t help but feel like I was 14 playing Der Riese before school.”

Players have started Discord servers to get together to discuss levels and organize matches in order to keep their favorite game alive. New levels are still coming out almost every day too. While Black Ops Cold War’s Zombie mode may be great, these fans have no plans to leave their work behind to play a different Call of Duty.