Call of Duty: Vanguard Zombies gameplay leaks ahead of launch

Call of Duty: Vanguard
(Image credit: Activision)

Call of Duty: Vanguard Zombies gameplay has seemingly leaked ahead of the game's full release later this week.

In the early hours of today on November 1, some incredibly blurry gameplay appeared online, apparently of Call of Duty: Vanguard's forthcoming Zombies mode. While the original video has been hit with a DMCA strike by Call of Duty publisher Activision, there are mirrors of the video still available, one of which you can find here.

Yes, that footage you can barely make out is actually of the Zombies mode in Vanguard. We can see the player character springing around a ruined urban map environment, encountering the hordes of the undead as they go and summarily gunning them down. There are even portals seen throughout the gameplay, hinting at multiple locations for any one of Vanguard's Zombies maps.

Previously, developer Sledgehammer Games revealed that the Zombies story in Vanguard will actually be a prequel to the story seen in Black Ops Cold War's Zombies mode. In fact, the Zombies mode in Vanguard isn't even being developed by Sledgehammer, but is actually headed by once again by Treyarch, who led the development of Black Ops Cold War, which launched last year in 2020.

There's not long to wait now until Call of Duty: Vanguard is finally with us, and we'll be able to sample the Zombies mode for ourselves instead of witnessing it through the lens of a potato. The new Sledgehammer-developed entry in the Call of Duty franchise launches later this week on November 5, for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S.

Vanguard's release comes at a tumultuous time for Call of Duty publisher Activision, as it continues to respond to the Activision Blizzard lawsuit filed against the publisher by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing.

Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.