Vanguard Zombies Dark Aether Story Has Been Postponed

Call of Duty's Zombies mode has been an incredibly popular part of the franchise since it first kicked off in World At War, beginning as a mere horde-style mode - but it has since become so much more than that.

Zombies has its own strange and winding narrative arcs, with missions, objectives, and famously tough easter eggs to solve - far distancing itself from the potential of being mistaken for a simple tack-on to the series.

The stories of Zombies keep fans coming back, and it’s a core reason so many players are picking up Vanguard this weekend. Sadly, they might be out of luck when it comes to the game’s missions.

Vanguard Zombies Won’t Have A Main Quest At Launch

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As will be a big let-down for a lot of Zombies fans, it turns out the mode’s main quest is not set to be in the game when it launches. Instead, it will be added later on down the line.

In a blog post discussing the gameplay of Vanguard’s Zombies mode, it was revealed that, "This Main Quest will be tied to the arrival of an unexpected ally after Season One". This is according to Treyarch, which means the Vanguard Zombies Dark Aether story isn’t available when the game actually launches.

We can only presume that this will leave Der Anfang - the new map that sets the stage for the mode - as a mere husk of a map to explore and shoot waves of baddies in, left without any real objectives.

And some fans think they know why.

Fans Think Treyarch Are Under Strain Making Zombies

It’s a shame to see this happen to Zombies - but it's expected to be as a result of Treyarch carrying Call of Duty Zombies for the last few years, and a symptom of the team’s strain.

One commenter posted in the CODZombies subreddit and said, "Going from getting 2-3 years to work on the next game to then being forced to pretty much make three games in a row. It’s not a laziness problem, it’s a time constraint problem."

Another commenter replied with, "Treyarch have been thrown in at the deep end and have made a mode that’ll be better than other Zombies modes that have had much longer development time". 

It’s sad that the full extent of the mode won’t be available upon launch, but we’d rather the team was evading the intense stresses of making games in order to make it. It’s alright, though - chances are the Call of Duty: Vanguard Zombies Dark Aether story will be worth the wait.