CoD Zombies gets new ‘Forsaken’ map: release date, Chrysalax, Dark Aether finale

Isaac McIntyre
The next Call of Duty Zombies map will be at Test Site Anna.

Call of Duty Zombies is on the verge of getting its final round-based map in Black Ops Cold War, a mysterious “Forsaken” battleground at Test Site Anna in Ukraine set to bring the franchise-arching Dark Aether storyline to a close ⁠— here’s everything we know about the next Zombies update so far.

The new Zombies storyline in Black Ops Cold War has been a smashing success, and players have raved about the playlist’s new maps and battlegrounds too.

The fight-to-survive game mode looks to be going out on a high too; Zombies will be getting one last map in the game’s Season 6 update, which will also act as a sort of ‘Treyarch goodbye’ before the Call of Duty franchise shifts to Vanguard.

This new map, code-named “Ukraine,” should be another stunner.

Here’s everything we know about the next Call of Duty Zombies map — ‘Forsaken’ — so far, including its release date, Treyarch leaks, and more.

Contents

Outbreak zombies
One last Call of Duty Zombies map is set to drop in Black Ops Cold War next month.

Forsaken leaks & teasers

Test Site Anna

Treyarch revealed two images relating to the “Test Site Anna” map on September 14. One was posted on Twitter, and one was shared a little later on their Facebook page.

In both images, a towering building can be seen.

There are also two scrawled messages. The first reads, “Weaver ⁠— This is the place. We must make our stand here. Ravenov”. The second message, shared on Facebook hours later, says: “Omega’s next operation is already well underway. They have been constructing for months”. Both are written on old photos.

They were both posted with #Zombies #SeasonSix hashtags.

"Treyarch's first Zombies leak revealed "Test
Treyarch’s first Zombies leak revealed “Test Site Anna” is the next map’s location.

Margwas return

Next came two reports from the ‘office of requiem’ on September 16 & 17. The first was a letter from Weaver, detailing an extraction mission of Sergeant Kazimir Zykov. The second came from The Director and described the conditions of Operation First Domino.

A few days passed before the next ominous teaser went live on September 22. “New horrors have emerged from the Dark Aether,” Treyarch revealed as a Margwa Zombie appeared to breach a nearby portal.

CoD Zombies Margwas
Margwas are on their way back to CoD Zombies.

Forsaken will finally appear

This particular foe first appeared in Black Ops 3. It now seems set for a return in the final round-based Zombies map in Cold War. Another teaser image soon followed on September 24 as Treyarch stressed “something big is coming.”

A containment device is holding The Forsaken while keeping its abilities “nullified”. There’s a good chance this device fails and sets up the battle ahead of us in the upcoming map.

Dark Aether finale easter egg

These new “Forsaken” teasers confirm how the Dark Aether storyline is likely to end when the new Zombies map is finally added to Black Ops Cold War.

The building, Test Site Anna, is already familiar to Call of Duty players who have sunk their teeth into Treyarch’s latest story campaign; during the single-player mode the player journeys to the base in the “Operation Redlight, Greenlight” mission.

Dexerto expects we’ll see one final Omega machine.

The main Call of Duty Zombies antagonists have been trying to build a Dark Aether device to find the Forsaken. It first appeared in the Mauer Der Toten easter egg, possessing Aleksandra Valentina’s father. We have yet to see the story’s ‘big bad’ in the flesh though ⁠— something that may change in Ukraine.

The map’s easter egg is now confirmed to be based around Omega trapping the Forsaken in a mortal body, in a bid to win the Cold War against Requiem.

Omega seems to be on the verge of summong "The Forsaken" in CoD Zombies.
Omega seems to be on the verge of summoning “The Forsaken” in CoD Zombies.

New Forsaken weapons revealed

Chrysalax Wonder Weapon

In this Zombies cycle, we’ve already seen the iconic Ray Gun and the Monkey Bomb added to Black Ops Cold War. On top of that, there’s been the new Binary Repeater, the DIE Machine, and most recently Firebase’s modded-out RAI K-84 gun.

Now we get a new Call of Duty Zombies weapon: the “Chrysalax” axe.

This new item is a Dark Aether melee weapon that can be discovered in the Forsaken quest, earned in Trials, or (with the right luck) won in the Mystery Box.

The Chrysalax Wonder Weapon will play a major part in Forsaken's story.
The Chrysalax Wonder Weapon will play a major part in Forsaken’s story.

ARC-XD, Hand Cannon support items

This final Zombies update will also add two new support weapons to the famous survival mode: the ARC-XD and Hand Cannon.

The ARC-XD seems very similar to the iconic Black Ops killstreak, a mini-bomb strapped to a remote-controlled car. This Zombies version has a few changes though, and acts like a decoy, luring Zombies in with an Aetherium Crystal. When it detonates, it emits a small Aether blast pulse to kill normal enemies.

On top of the zany new car item, Zombies players will also be able to get their hands on the Hand Cannon, introduced in multiplayer back in the Season 4 update.

Forsaken’s new Wonder Gun will be revealed soon enough.

PhD Flopper perk returns

PhD Slider is very similar to the original perk — but, instead of diving, a player needs to slide into a zombie or creature to trigger an explosion. The size of the impact and the amount of damage dealt depends on the distance the player slides before making contact with an enemy.

Much like other perks in Cold War, PhD Slider will have five tiers of upgrades, which have not been revealed at the time of writing. However, the devs did hint at one upgrade allowing you to trigger explosions when falling from a vertical distance.

The perk will have its own machine but can also be found in the Der Wunderfizz machine in all round-based maps and Outbreak.

PhD Slider Zombies perk Season 6
PhD Slider is coming to Zombies as a new perk, it will work similarly to PhD Flopper.

Official Forsaken map description

“As fans have learned in the latest Intel throughout Season Five, Requiem’s Director has plans for Samantha Maxis. Requiem has been employing unorthodox methods to “help” her understand the powers she has developed during her time in the Dark Aether.

“Requiem and Omega have embarked upon rival operations to extract Sergeant Kazimir Zykov from the Dark Aether, believing this “lost Russian” – the Soviet soldier who closed the portal at Projekt Endstation – will be the key to preventing a destructive force from entering our world.

“And now, Omega defector Sergei Ravenov has provided Requiem with intelligence detailing a massive new Aetherial portal being constructed in western Ukraine…”

Forsaken's description confirms one final Zombies showdown is coming.
Forsaken’s description confirms one final Zombies showdown is coming.

When will new Zombies map be released?

Dexerto can confirm that the new CoD Zombies map, Forsaken, will be released as part of the Black Ops Cold War Season 6 launch. That means we already have a locked-in release date for the new battlefield ⁠— Thursday, October 7.

Unless there are any delays, Zombies players should get their hands on the new Forsaken map once the update goes live around 9PM US time.

About The Author

Isaac was formerly the Australian Managing Editor at Dexerto. Isaac began his writing career as a sports journalist at Fairfax Media, before falling in love with all things esports and gaming. Since then he's covered Oceanic and global League of Legends for Upcomer, Hotspawn, and Snowball Esports.