The Call of Duty Zombies community has proven time and time again how passionate it is, whether it be through deep theories and lore discussions or custom maps and Wonder Weapon replicas. Naturally, the announcement of a Call of Duty Zombies art book was always going to be met with excitement, and many have rushed to pre-order Call of Duty Zombies: The Art of Treyarch since it appeared on Amazon. Getting a behind-the-scenes look at 15 years’ worth of maps, characters, and enemies will undoubtedly put a smile on the faces of fans, and it will be interesting to see how concepts for maps and mini-bosses evolved into the final versions that fans eventually encountered in the games. Character concepts for the original four crew members and key figures like Samantha Maxis will also be something many will hope to see.
However, while a closer look at the artwork that helped inspire Treyarch’s beloved survival mode is hugely exciting for hardcore fans, this isn’t what got people speculating. Sure, there may be some imagery of scrapped concepts that are eventually revisited in the Black Ops 7 maps that follow Ashes of the Damned, but it’s the cover art itself that has sparked interest. This is because Treyarch has re-used the severed hand imagery from BO3’s hugely successful Zombies Chronicles expansion, only with pieces of artwork in place of the typical gameplay images. Whether it intended to or not, this has been viewed as Treyarch teasing Zombies Chronicles 2, with fans now hopeful that this long-requested expansion will come to Black Ops 7.
The CoD Zombies’ Artbook Might Just Double as a Zombies Chronicles 2 Teaser
Various insiders and content creators have talked about how a second Zombies Chronicles was essentially in the works at some point, but was ultimately scrapped. Most point to Black Ops 4 as the place where this would have released, as it was the last game in the franchise to feature traditional DLC packs and season passes, with Modern Warfare 2019 introducing the seasonal model that has become the norm. Supposedly, a second year of Zombies DLC for BO4 would have not only wrapped up the unfinished Chaos Story, but featured more original Aether maps as well as remakes of maps like TranZit and Die Rise. While Treyarch had supposedly finished many of the assets for these maps, leading players to think they could still be repurposed for remakes in Black Ops Cold War, that never happened.
Black Ops 4’s second year of Zombies content was reportedly scrapped because Treyarch had to immediately start work on Black Ops Cold War, filling in for Sledgehammer Games in 2020.
Since this disappointing info came out, there have been occasional rumblings of Zombies Chronicles 2, but nothing concrete has materialized. The DLC’s key art imagery being repurposed for this art book is the closest thing Treyarch has done to an official Zombies Chronicles tease, unless fans want to count the appearance of Buried’s music within Outbreak as a hint of some sorts. Realistically, fans could be getting hyped for no reason. The art book celebrates the entire history of the mode, be it huge successes like Shadows of Evil or the much-maligned Vanguard Zombies. Zombies Chronicles is a key part of that 15-year legacy, as it made the already great iteration of BO3 Zombies into the definitive take on the mode and was the best-selling DLC on PS4. Still, there’s good reason to be optimistic.
What Could Zombies Chronicles 2 For Black Ops 7 Include?
Call of Duty 2026 is rumored to bring back DMZ instead of featuring a Zombies mode, meaning that there could be no new Zombies experiences between late 2026 and 2027 (and potentially longer if Sledgehammer’s game also lacks a Zombies mode). Sure, this is purely speculation, but shelving Zombies until late 2028 would make for a brutal drought, especially for those who only play CoD for the round-based mode. Fortunately, this could open up Treyarch to continue supporting Black Ops 7 Zombies for longer than the usual 5-6 maps, as it could release Chronicles content across 2026 and 2027 to keep Zombies fans busy. Whether this comes in the form of old school map packs or occasional map drops is anyone’s guess, but since BO7 will be the last Treyarch game for years, it’s in a position to have a longer life than something like Cold War or BO6 did.
Taking the cover for the CoD Zombies art book at face value, the maps featured in Zombies Chronicles 2 would include:
- Dead of the Night
- TranZit
- Moon
- Shadows of Evil
- Der Eisendrache
- The Archon
However, including anything from Vanguard Zombies seems highly unlikely, so if map remasters do actually happen, they likely won’t have anything to do with the artwork included in the picture. Instead, Treyarch will probably feature maps that lack faithful remakes, as Tag Der Toten, Alpha Omega, Blood of the Dead, and Classified played a lot differently from the original maps. A more realistic Zombies Chronicles 2 lineup would be as follows:
- Five
- Call of the Dead
- Mob of the Dead
- Buried
- Die Rise
- TranZit
- Nuketown
- Survival map segments from TranZit (released in-between larger remasters, mirroring what BO7 will be doing with Ashes of the Damned survival maps)
There is also potential for Treyarch to remaster fan favorites from Black Ops 3 and Black Ops 4, as they’re several years old at this point. However, maps like Shadows of Evil and Der Eisendrache are far more accessible than the PS3/Xbox 360 era content, so the older maps would be the ideal candidates for remasters. Ultimately, though there’s a very good chance that Zombies Chronicles’ severed hand being used for the art book isn’t actually hinting at Chronicles 2, BO7 is in a unique position where it would be a viable host for Zombies Chronicles remasters for the first time since BO4. If this long-anticipated expansion does happen, players should expect Treyarch to choose beloved maps like Buried as opposed to some of the more divisive maps depicted on the art book cover, as those are likely just random pieces pulled out of the book itself.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 66 /100 Critics Rec: 34%
- Released
- November 14, 2025
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Drugs
- Developer(s)
- Treyarch, Raven Software
- Publisher(s)
- Activision
