Modern Warfare 3 Zombies set to return according to cryptic texts

COD
(Image credit: COD)

A Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Zombies mode appears to have been confirmed, in just about one of the weirdest reveals ever.

Cast your mind back a few eons (to earlier this week), and you might recall a phone number revealed to Call of Duty influencers that the red dot on the minimap would be returning for Modern Warfare 3. This sentient phone number is now back at it again, and this time it appears to have confirmed to several influencers that the Zombies mode is returning for the new game later this year.

As the tweets both above and below attest to, texting "Zombies" to the enigmatic number will have it blurt out a soundbite. This soundbite, when activated, sends out a strange munching sound, along with some unnerving music in the background, and what sounds an awful lot like a moan from a zombie.

Sure, that "moan" could be a bit enigmatic, but veteran Zombies players will know that's the noise Call of Duty's zombies have been making for over a decade now as they shamble towards the player. That's the sort of noise that veteran Zombies players don't forget too easily.

If you, like us, are scratching your head at the nature of these reveals from Activision, rest easy in the knowledge that all this nonsense should come to an end tomorrow. Modern Warfare 3 is holding a reveal event in Warzone 2 on August 17, which should provide us with our best look at the new game yet. 

So far at least, we know the infamous Makarov is returning for Modern Warfare 3, apparently not done after being executed by Captain Price back in the original Modern Warfare 3. We also know that Modern Warfare 3 will be launching on November 10 across both PC and new and last-gen console platforms alike.

Modern Warfare 3 will "carry forward" most content from Modern Warfare 2 which, although a nice bonus, isn't helping dispel the view that the new game is little more than DLC. 

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.

Read more
A player wearing a gasmask and holding a gun during the shooter, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
Call of Duty season 2 brings back Gun Game and a fan-favorite Zombies weapon we haven't seen in 10 years
soldiers dropping in from the sky and looking over verdansk
Warzone's original map is returning next month, but it's still not enough: "We don't just want Verdansk back. We want everything back"
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 and 2
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4 rumors have just been upgraded from podcast mentions and Call of Duty map teasers to a full countdown on the official Activision website
Killing Floor 3 screenshot showing a new ZED with a terrifying body augmentation
Killing Floor 3: Everything we know so far
Two Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 players using omnimovement to dive past each other on the Skyline map
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 2 brings back a beloved game mode fans have been begging for, but all I care about is a practically meaningless bug fix
Killing Floor 3 screenshots of a member of NIghtfall wearing a gas mask next to images of burning foes that surround the Big in 2025 logo
Killing Floor 3 is bringing us gloriously gory co-op FPS action in 2025, and Tripwire says it's "at its best when you are just barely surviving"
Latest in FPS
Doom: The Dark Ages screenshot
Doom director claims The Dark Ages can be beaten without using a gun, but "the game's not necessarily built to do that"
Battlefield Bad Company 2
Battlefield dev reveals more of his Bad Company 3 script and confirms the plot would revolve around the squad getting kicked out of the military and brought back for a final suicide mission
A Titan readies for combat in an animated trailer for Apex Legends Season 19
Yet another Respawn shooter has reportedly been canceled, following the studio's Star Wars FPS and rumored Titanfall Legends game to the grave
A cropped screenshot from the pre-alpha gameplay footage shown in the 'Introducing Battlefield Labs' video.
Battlefield 6's first teaser takes me back to the days of Modern Warfare 2 lobbies and 24/7 Metro matches, proving we all crave a return to shooters' simpler times
Doom
Doom: The Dark Ages' new cutscenes exist because of fans' unlikely obsession with the series' lore: "A Doom game that doesn’t have a story is just an arcade game”
Battlefield Bad Company 2
"I am freaked out by how much might actually have been accurate": Battlefield Bad Company 3 writer unearths forgotten script
Latest in News
Jordan A. Mun looks at herself in a mirror in just a vest in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet screenshot
5 years after starting development, Neil Druckmann says Naughty Dog's new game Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is "still evolving and changing as we're making it"
Silent Hill f
After 2 years of silence, the next mainline Silent Hill game is getting a dedicated stream this week with "the latest news"
Original Xbox console
Former Microsoft exec says the first Xbox was killed early in favor of 360 because it was "losing money left right and center," but luckily "we could afford to hemorrhage cash"
A Monster Hunter Wilds character holding binoculars.
Despite Monster Hunter Wilds suffering monstrous performance problems on PC, it still outsold the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions in the US
Jordan A. Mun looks at herself in a mirror in just a vest in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet screenshot
The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann says Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet will also be about "being lonely," as if his zombie apocalypse wasn’t isolating enough: "I really want you to be lost"
A screenshot of Jordan drinking a soda during the reveal trailer for Intergalactic: The Hertic Prophet.
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is "a game about faith and religion," which Neil Druckmann jokes will surely get less hate than The Last of Us 2