Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 may have launched to rave reviews from fans and critics, but in the months since its debut, it has endured controversy after controversy. An abundance of AI artwork for loading screens, logos, and more has sparked criticism, as have major recasts for Treyarch’s iconic Zombies mode as a result of the ongoing acting strike. Recently, advertisements for store bundles appeared within player loadouts, leading to more outrage, and now Black Ops 6 has riled up fans once again with the announcement of its final Zombies map.
In a livestream earlier this week, Activision revealed that Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Zombies’ “finale” will be releasing in Season 5, and is set within Janus Towers, a location that fans have expected to explore since the game debuted. While this launch date was expected, especially after Season 4 positioned the return of the PvPvE mode Grief as its main attraction, the wording regarding Janus Towers being the capstone of the BO6 story is what has left fans unhappy. However, unlike the previous controversies, this particular disappointment feels like a case of players expecting something that never seemed all that realistic, with Treyarch essentially being criticized for not keeping a promise that it never made.
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Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Zombies’ Was Never Likely to Have Extra DLC Maps
There are a handful of reasons why CoD Zombies fans expected Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 to have more post-launch maps than usual:
- Rapid Zombies map releases at the start of Black Ops 6’s life cycle had fans believing that a map a Season would be released, as it took until Season 4 for this trend to be broken.
- Black Ops 6 rumors suggested that there would be additional maps, and while leaks should always be taken with a grain of salt, many were hopeful that they would prove true given how quick DLC maps were coming out in the initial BO6 seasons.
- The Tomb being a smaller release had Black Ops 6 players thinking that the mode would consistently switch between a smaller map and a larger one every season, ensuring all types of players are catered to.
Of these points, it’s the cadence of early map releases that was the best sign of six DLC maps. Even after Grief took up the Season 4 slot, fans were hopeful that there would be one extra DLC map, as two more Seasons are expected to come prior to Black Ops 7’s debut. Unfortunately, based on the wording used in the announcement of the Season 5 map, it’s likely that Janus Towers will be the final map released for Black Ops 6. It’s unclear what Zombies content, if any, will be seen in Season 6 - perhaps a Super Easter egg unlock or some extra intel teasing BO7 - but the idea of BO6’s final Season being mapless has been met with anger from the community. However, while players are obviously free to feel how they like and provide constructive feedback, Black Ops 6 will not have been lacking content when all is said and done.
Black Ops 6 Zombies’ New Controversy is a Community-Created Problem
Though it’s often clear to see where much of the criticism around the Call of Duty series comes from, this latest batch doesn’t make as much sense. In-game, there have been clear signs that Treyarch was only planning to release one more map, with the Wunderfizz only containing one more perk slot and the narrative clearly building to a climax with Janus Towers. Treyarch also never said it would release a Zombies map each Season, with the expectation simply coming about due to a combination of leaks online, the three speedy releases in Seasons 1-3, and the community deciding that things like re-used Wonder Weapons were evidence of Treyarch trying to get maps out quicker. Most importantly, Zombies having four DLC maps has been the standard for every single Black Ops entry, even extending to modes made by other studios like Exo Zombies, Infinite Warfare Zombies, and WW2 Zombies.
Looking at the history of Treyarch Zombies map counts, Black Ops 6 finds itself right near the top with an expected final count of six maps. World at War had four original maps, Black Ops 1 had six, Black Ops 2 had six (nine counting TranZit’s survival maps), Black Ops 3 had six (five if subtracting The Giant since it's a remake), Black Ops 4 had eight, and Black Ops Cold War had four (five if counting Outbreak).
When considering how quick Treyarch will be shifting from Season 5’s Janus Towers to Black Ops 7’s launch, the studio is undoubtedly under a lot of pressure at the moment. As such, giving the developer the grace period of a quiet Season 6 feels more than fair, even if it is sad to think about Black Ops 6 Zombies likely ending with a whimper after it started so strong. While there are plenty of things to criticize about the mode and the game as a whole, from the use of AI assets and repeat Wonder Weapons to the gap between Shattered Veil and Janus Towers, the overall Zombies map count isn’t anything out of the ordinary. As such, the controversy around Season 5’s map being the last ultimately feels overblown, as Treyarch is set to deliver the same amount of DLC Zombies maps as it always has, free of charge.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 83 /100 Critics Rec: 91%
- Released
- October 25, 2024
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Suggestive Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
- Developer(s)
- Treyarch, Raven Software
- Publisher(s)
- Activision
- Engine
- IW 9.0
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op
- Cross-Platform Play
- Yes - PlayStation, Xbox, PC
WHERE TO PLAY
Forced to go rogue. Hunted from within. This is Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
Developed by Treyarch and Raven, Black Ops 6 is a spy action thriller set in the early 90s, a period of transition and upheaval in global politics, characterized by the end of the Cold War and the rise of the United States as a single superpower. With a mind-bending narrative, and unbound by the rules of engagement, this is signature Black Ops.
The Black Ops 6 Campaign provides dynamic moment-to-moment gameplay that includes a variety of play spaces with blockbuster set pieces and action-packed moments, high-stakes heists, and cloak-and-dagger spy activity.
In a best-in-class Multiplayer experience, players will test their skills across 16 new maps at launch, including 12 core 6v6 maps and 4 Strike maps that can be played 2v2 or 6v6.
Black Ops 6 also marks the epic return of Round-Based Zombies, the fan-favorite mode where players will take down hordes of the undead in two brand-new maps at launch. Post-launch, players can look forward to even more exciting maps and groundbreaking experiences dropping into both Multiplayer and Zombies.
- Genre(s)
- FPS
