If there’s one thing about the Call of Duty Zombies mode that players enjoy, it’s the sense of mystery between maps, something that’s been prevalent from the beginning of the Zombies mode in World at War. Players would speculate about where the story was going to go next, and while the game became bigger and bigger, it became grander in scale, right to the end of the Aether story in Black Ops 4. However, with a new zombies story unfolding, players are back at square one, living the old days of speculation with World at War and Black Ops 1. While many thought the story was over with the release of Mauer der Toten, they’ve been pleasantly surprised that there’s one more round-based Zombies map coming before the release of Vanguard, as well as the possibility of the second year of Call of Duty Cold War content. However, a leak relating to the codenames of the Zombies maps has players speculating about where the next map, known by the community as DLC 4, will take place.

During the development of Cold War, each of the round-based maps for the game have had codenames. While Die Maschine doesn’t have a codename since the game isn’t a DLC, Firebase Z and Mauer der Toten do have codenames, With DLC 1, Firebase Z being named zm_pink, while DLC 3, Mauer Der Toten is named zm_platnium. 

DLC 2 is considered by Treyarch to be the Outbreak mode for the game, with both of the prologue Easter eggs for Mauer taking place within the mode. It’s most likely that DLC 4 will have the same treatment in Outbreak in preparation for the next round-based map. However, the codename for DLC 4 has a different name, as both of the previous maps codenames are colors, pink, and platinum, DLC 4’s codename is zm_thegiant.  

This already has players thinking about the map from Black Ops 3, being that the pre-order bonus map contained within the hardened edition of the game is a remake of Der Reise, which is also translated to “the giant” in English. With both of these maps sharing the same codename for Cold War’s DLC 4 map, players think that the game is going to contain Der Reise in some shape or form, seeing that the base map for Cold War, Die Maschine, includes the entirety of Nacht der Untoten, which is the original World at War map. 

While this theory weights it, this won’t be the case, as Treyarch has shown to its players that they’re approaching the creation of new zombies maps differently. Seeing that all the maps to come out after the game’s launch have been using data and environmental assets from previous campaign missions, with Firebase Z and Mauer der Toten using locales from the campaign. Another point of contention in this theory is that a leak suggested that both Firebase Z and Mauer der Toten would contain portions of previous maps from the Zombies universe. 

Supposedly, Firebase Z was going to contain portions of Shi No Numa from World at War. Mauer der Toten would contain portions or the whole theater from Kino der Toten. However, the truth is that Treyarch took sections from the campaign, with Firebase Z using whole locations from the campaign mission Fractured Jaw and Mauer der Toten using almost the entirety of the “Brick in the Wall” mission. This is most likely the route that Treyarch is going to take, seeing that they’ve been using previous assets made for the game in their Outbreak mode as well, with Treyarch’s leaked Warzone map including all of the locations from the Outbreak mode. These locations are also used in Fireteam, with players fighting against one another in these closed-off locales.

The game may use a campaign mission as a baseline for the map. Parts of the campaign environment would be built into custom sections to make a zombies map for DLC 4 would save development time. The reasoning is most likely that since the maps are going to be free when they come out, they’re going to have to save money in some way to make development easier. However, many fans have pointed out that the time between Firebase Z and Mauer der Toten has been longer than some of the DLC releases for previous games. Therefore this reasoning isn’t as justified seeing that more time is spent developing a map from previous assets in the campaign rather than making a whole new map from scratch. Regardless, this probably won’t stop Treyarch from continuing to use campaign assets in the future. 

So, what map would be used to make the next map. All the information about the next map to come out is that the codename for the map is “the giant” there are two possible locations from the campaign that could work as zombies maps for the upcoming DLC 4. One of these locations is the massive base from the campaign mission “Red Light, Green Light.” In this mission, woods and the player enter a massive military installation, where soldiers are trained for combat on American soil. One of these locations in the base is a replica of a suburban American town, which could be an interesting set piece for players to explore. The second possible location for the map is the base atop Yamantau in the campaign mission “Echoes of a Cold War,” which puts players atop a frozen mountain, working their way through a destroyed base. The mountain itself would fit “the giant” description and could be used as the stepping stone for what’s to come.

Another thing fans should be wary of is that the codename “the giant” could be used as a reference not to the map’s location but to the story of the game itself. Seeing the Dark Aether story will reach its climax by the next round-based map, people are considering the possibility of the Giant not being the location but of a specific Giant enemy in the game. 

The only one fans know of at the moment is the Orda, a giant fleshy creature that stalked the Dark Aether and was the boss of Firebase Z. Now, the Orda has become one of the main bosses players encounter in the Outbreak mode of the game. However, the game mentions through the intel feature that a larger Orda is lurking somewhere inside the Dark Aether. During the game’s ending, there’s the introduction of a character known as the forsaken, the “big boss” of the Zombie army. 

The director of Requiem issued that Samantha presents a problem that must be dealt with. Due to her powers from being trapped in the Dark Aether, the director plans to dispose of her somehow. Treyarch has mentioned that this upcoming season will contain some more information about the director’s plans for Sam through the intel feature, giving players more lore about the title before the release of DLC 4. With all this in mind, there’s a heavy possibility that the game will take players to a location that they haven’t been since the first map that launched on disc.

There’s one aspect of the Cold War Zombies mode that players haven’t been to yet, and would fall in line with many rumors and leaks circulating the game since its launch. The final map could take place within the Dark Aether exclusively. While the map would still use some of the locations from the campaign mode, the only time players have entered the Dark Aether for an extended time is during the first map, Die Maschine. Going into the Dark Aether was integral to the continuation of the map’s main plot. 

However, with the director of Requiem wanting to remove Samantha’s powers, or at least confine her somewhere where she won’t get in the way of Requiem’s plans, sending Sam to the Dark Aether, along with Requiem, would be the best way of disposing of her. Seeing that the players have gone against direct orders from Requiem to help Sam during the first Outbreak Easter egg, the players would also be thrown into the Dark Aether, which would make for the reason that all the characters are there. 

Combining this with the fact that the players have halted the progress of the forsaken at the end of the Mauer der Toten Easter egg, this would mean that they have the antagonist for the map as well, with the forsaken being the main boss for the end of the main quest. With the mentions of the leader of the Ordas, this could also be in relation to forsaken as well, meaning that “the giant” is the forsaken and would be a major climax for the game, letting players fight their way throughout the map. 

Originally, during the launch of Cold War, four perks were found in the game files, all with Dark Aether jingles, meaning that the song played when the player interacted with the machine would be played. These perks were Tombstone, Mule Kick, Double Tap, and Ph.D. Flopper. Only two of these perks made it into the game. With the perk coming out next season being Black Ops 4’s Death Perception, there’s one final perk left to be included in the game. However, there’s a possibility that both Double Tap and Ph.D. Flopper would be making their debut in a map exclusively in the Dark Aether. The map is the climax of the first year of Cold War and could use two new perks to change things up, rather than having a single perk. 

With this conclusion, and the game possibly ending with the defeat of the forsaken, this could pave the way into the second year of content. It’s rumored to come along with a possible Zombies Chronicles 2, which has been stated as “ready to go” since the story of the Aether has the Victis crew sent to the Dark Aether.

Introducing the Dark Aether as a full map location would work into some of the Chronicles maps making their way to the game if Chronicles were made for the Cold War. Putting maps like Tranzit into the game and having it take place in the Dark Aether would link the two stories. However, this would imply that the characters will be playable, and with the current maps having players take the role of the Requiem agents, who are the Multiplayer operators. However, this could be sidestepped by changing the way the game works and making the players the Vitis crew or having the characters stuck in the Dark Aether and encounter the Victis crew by ending up in the Dark Aether versions of the Victis maps in Zombies Chronicles 2. 

Although, this would go against the insistence from Treyarch that the Dark Aether isn’t going to be tied to the original Aether story. The game uses perks like Juggernog and Speed Cola. It includes characters like Samantha Maxis, who survived the ending of the original Aether story with Eddie, who was a younger version of the fan-favorite character Richtofen. 

The director’s identity is also thought to be Richtofen. However, there’s a possibility that this won’t be the case. As players thought Richtofen would be included in the Outbreak main quest, seeing that Sam had addressed messages to “R,” but this turned out to be Ravenov. This Omega double agent was helping Sam out during the events of Firebase Z and Outbreak. However, there’s a chance that Eddie, being someone closest to Sam throughout the Aether story and the only one that hasn’t been seen throughout the Dark Aether story. There’s a likelihood that Richtofen has taken the spot as the director of Requiem. 

Although the Dark Aether story is trying to distance itself from the original, there’s a possibility that Richtofen isn’t the director of Requiem. Seeing that he’s been a foil to Sam since the original Zombies story, there’s a good possibility that he could be the director. From the campaign, the actual director is Hudson, as Weaver was a character in the original campaign. Treyarch is working on integrating their characters from the campaign and saving the few characters made for the Zombies story. Having Hudson as the director, seeing that he was the main boss in the campaign, would be the more likely option. The ending cutscene for Mauer der Toten had the director wearing a white shirt that was rolled up, which is the same outfit Hudson wears, further proving this theory. 

Overall, speculation is key to the Zombies community. Players are always asking questions about what will come next for the game with its upcoming DLC 4. Even though the Cold War will be the Call of Duty title to have the least amount of Zombies maps within its first year, the game is doing better than Activision expected, making it the second game in the series to receive more content in the game.