The story began Thursday afternoon, when a select number of Warzone players suddenly saw a static effect take over their screens alongside a brief Morse code sequence. Shortly after those effects appeared, the contraption pictured below was discovered inside the Verdansk hospital location. Fans of Treyarch’s Zombies mode likely know it as the Trial Machine. When approached, it gives the option to “ZAI_ACTIVATE_ZOMBIES,” but nothing happens once the button is pushed. There may be more steps involved to make the machine work, similar to the Stadium Easter egg and Bunker shenanigans that Warzone is previously known for, but those steps have yet to be uncovered—if they exist.
These suspicious happenings occur days after a prominent Call of Duty leaker began discussing the possibility of an open-world PvE Zombies mode called Outbreak. Known insider Okami recently took to Twitter to suggest “there’s a new mode called Outbreak coming soon. Don’t know the details, but it’s supposed to be Treyarch-style co-op Zombies on a large-scale Fireteam map.” The source further adds that they’ve “heard it described as ‘open-world Zombies.’” With this concept in mind, some have suggested Outbreak mode may take place in the Ural mountains map currently used for Fireteam in Black Ops Cold War or a brand-new space based on a similar design philosophy.
Regardless of how the supposed Outbreak mode takes shape, it’s likely to be a major component of Black Ops Cold War Season 2 and the next iteration of Warzone. After all, Activision has recently begun teasing Season 2 in other ways, such as the official release of the Season 2 narrative cutscene earlier this week. It would make perfect sense for the publisher to keep that hype train rolling by dropping even more hints into Warzone. During an earnings call last week, Activision President Rob Kostich said: “Warzone will continue to [be a] central part of future content planning” in 2021 and beyond. The sudden appearance of this Trial Machine is yet another example of the company remaining dedicated to raising awareness for new content via the free-to-play title.
Call of Duty: Warzone is available now on PS4, Xbox One and PC.
What are your thoughts on these Zombies Trial Machines showing up in Verdansk? Will we soon have another Easter egg to solve? Tell us in the comments section!
