Treyarch wanted to quit Zombies before Black Ops 2
Treyarch nearly put a stop to Zombies after Black Ops 1, according to former Call of Duty devs.
11th Apr 2024 10:00
Images via Activision
Treyarch wanted to quit Zombies before Black Ops 2
Treyarch nearly put a stop to Zombies after Black Ops 1, according to former Call of Duty devs.
11th Apr 2024 10:00
Images via Activision
The Zombies sub-branch of Call of Duty has been a revelation for Treyarch, who kicked things off with Nacht Der Untoten some 16 years ago.
But after stringing together some quite brilliant maps in the first two titles where the dead were reanimated (World at War and Black Ops 1), it seems like Treyarch wanted to put a nail in its coffin once and for all.
According to a former Raven Software employee, Treyarch momentarily stopped its development of Zombies after Black Ops 1.
Treyarch nearly canned Zombies after Black Ops 1
Ex-Raven Software employee Michael Gummelt recently revealed that Raven was planning to coup Zombies in the Call of Duty universe, but not by a hostile takeover, more by allowance, as Treyarch was considering moving on.
In an interview with YouTube personality Glitching Queen, Gummelt said, "I'm not sure quite how we got the opportunity, I think it was at the time Treyarch wasn't sure that it wanted to keep doing zombies because it was a lot of work and so we got offered the opportunity to use it."
He went on to claim that Raven's open-world live-action standalone Zombies title would have then come into play, but Treyarch soon sorted itself out and put a stop to Raven's project by opting to pursue Black Ops 2 Zombies, and with it maps like Mob of the Dead, TranZit, and Nuketown.
Zombies nearly died in Call of Duty, properly
With this near-death experience, Call of Duty would never have had the Black Ops 2 maps listed above, but also the rest of the series' designs, including iconic places like Der Eisendrache, Die Maschine, and even the MW3 experience that we have now.
Gummelt also alluded to the fact that it might have been Jason Blundell's arrival to Treyarch which saved that Zombies line, as the transition between he and Jimmy Zalinsky was where this rift emerged.
"I think I think it was during whilst they were making Black Ops 2 and I remember Jimmy Zalinsky was leading zombies at the time and went to Treyarch to watch a playtest of Zombies and meet him," he continued.
"So I don't know if it was the transition there from Jimmy to Jason, I'm not really, but that was just the that was the scuttle-bug that I heard that maybe they were like 'It's not worth it'."
Treyarch is seemingly going back to its roots this year, following MW3's shortcomings, but at least we had something, as it was completely possible that we could have had no Zombies since 2012...
About The Author
Jack Marsh
Jack is an Esports Journalist at GGRecon. Graduating from the University of Chester, with a BA Honours degree in Journalism, Jack is an avid esports enthusiast and specialises in Rocket League, Call of Duty, VALORANT, and trending gaming news.
