Call of Duty: Vanguard: What we know about the Zombies Easter egg

Call of Duty: Vanguard Zombies Easter egg
(Image credit: Activision)

Looking for details on the Call of Duty: Vanguard Zombies Easter egg? Now that Vanguard is finally here, you might be wondering what the Easter egg entails and how to get started deciphering puzzles and clues for Der Anfang's hidden quest.

Unfortunately, the Zombies Easter egg isn't available yet and will be released at a later date. You can still jump into the Zombies mode, of course, and there's still plenty of leveling up to do in regular multiplayer, as well as the main campaign to beat. But if you've got your sights set on Der Anfang's main quest, here's what we know about the Call of Duty: Vanguard Zombies Easter egg, including when we're expecting it to deploy.

CoD: Vanguard Zombies Easter egg: When can you start Der Anfang's hidden quest? 

The Easter egg quest for CoD: Vanguard Zombies is expected to arrive with the launch of Season 1 on December 2. However, it seems that the Zombies storyline will be released in stages. From Treyarch's blog post

"Starting on December 2nd, new Zombies content & features will begin to roll out in Vanguard, including a new Objective, additional Covenants, new weapons, Zombies Season Challenges, holiday-themed updates, and more. Players will also encounter some other surprise elements later in Season One that will set the stage for our upcoming Main Quest."

While that's still a month away, it does give us plenty of time to get familiar with the new Der Anfang Zombies map. And though there's not much information on what exactly it will involve or how much or the Zombies Easter egg quest will be available at that time, a recent interview shed some light on the reasoning behind the delayed release.

"One [reason] was to make sure, because we're already delivering a lot of new things, was day one for new players to first come into the world, learn about it, learn about the characters, and there's a lot of intel already in across the locations." Miles Leslie, Treyarch's creative specialist, told Gamespot, "We want to digest that. We want to spread it out so people can fully digest it.

"One of the main things with the main quest, we wanted it to be more accessible than previous games and we wanted to spend the right amount of time that anyone can do it, and then we're going to deliver it, and spread it across post ship as well."

I'll be sure to update this guide when we get more information.

Sarah James
Senior Guides Writer

Sarah started as a freelance writer in 2018, writing for PCGamesN, TechRadar, GamingBible, Red Bull Gaming and more. In 2021, she was offered a full-time position on the PC Gamer team where she takes every possible opportunity to talk about World of Warcraft and Elden Ring. When not writing guides, most of her spare time is spent in Azeroth—though she's quite partial to JRPGs too. One of her fondest hopes is to one day play through the ending of Final Fantasy X without breaking down into a sobbing heap. She probably has more wolves in Valheim than you.

Read more
black ops 6 season 1
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 3 has been delayed, as the devs say they're 'taking the time to deliver a great experience' for what will be a 'big moment' for Call of Duty
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 2
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 2 will let players battle on boats and bullet-trains, with the Terminator entering the fray 'shortly after launch'
Squid Games soldiers in masks
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 hits peak lack of awareness with its Squid Game skins which, unfortunately, look rad as hell
Star Wars cosmetics in Destiny 2
Destiny 2's latest season will run a lengthy 5 months, implying a July launch date for Frontiers
black ops 6 safe codes
All Black Ops 6 safe code locations and solutions in the campaign
The Barrow-Dyad exotic SMG.
How to unlock the Barrow-Dyad exotic in Destiny 2
Latest in Call of Duty
A soldier looks out over the Verdansk map, as a single tear rolls down his cheek.
The original Verdansk map is returning to Call of Duty: Warzone, to celebrate which we get a soldier crying to Nat King Cole
black ops 6 season 1
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 3 has been delayed, as the devs say they're 'taking the time to deliver a great experience' for what will be a 'big moment' for Call of Duty
A zombie santa with six fingers leaps at the screen.
Call of Duty admits it's using generative AI to 'help develop some in-game assets', and suddenly all those poorly made calling cards make sense
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in Black Ops 6.
Call of Duty's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover costs like $90 and even the die-hards are in shellshock: 'Cash cow-abunga!'
Ghost, from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022), looks bleakly at a fellow passenger in a transport.
For COD’s sake: One player’s 763-day legal quest to make Activision unban their account ends in total success: ‘Worth the effort’
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 2
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 2 will let players battle on boats and bullet-trains, with the Terminator entering the fray 'shortly after launch'
Latest in Features
Blue Protocol players dancing minutes before the game closes forever
What will we do at the end of the world? If MMOs are any indication: mostly what we already do, plus a lot of dancing
Sphene applauds in Final Fantasy 14's patch 7.2 story.
I'm not yelling 'we're so back!' yet, but Final Fantasy 14's patch 7.2 story could be the first sign the MMO is returning to what made it so critically-acclaimed
Several tight-wearing superheroes surge towards the camera in a heroic fashion in City of Heroes.
One year later, City of Heroes' officially recognized fan server has me praying it's the future of dead MMOs
Immortal Pillars expansion for Age of Mythology: Retold
Age of Mythology Retold's new Chinese pantheon expansion takes a bold stance on updating an old game: Just make good new stuff
Ragnarok Battle Offline
After punishing my graphics card with Monster Hunter Wilds, I've returned to the rock-solid frame rates of my old hunting grounds: Windows XP
Ghoul in sunglasses
I'm convinced being a ghoul in Fallout 76 is the best way to vibe in West Virginia, thanks to these powerful perk cards and my new true love: Radiation