Is Zombies free-to-play in Modern Warfare 3?

Brad Norton
Modern Warfare 3 Zombies gameplay

With Modern Warfare 3 (the second one) comes a whole new take on the CoD Zombies experience. But is this unique version of the undead mode free-to-play?

Following up from last year’s Modern Warfare 2, this year’s CoD release, Modern Warfare 3, takes us back to the original Modern Warfare 2 on the multiplayer side. Confusing, right? But alongside its campaign and nostalgic multiplayer, it also features Zombies, to some degree.

CoD Zombies was a Treyarch staple, often structured as the classic round-based experience, pitting players against hordes of undead with secrets scattered throughout the map. Now, however, things are a little different.

Dropping players into a vast open world, the Zombies experience is bigger than ever. Though if you’re looking to do just that and drop in, do you need to pay the price of admission for Modern Warfare 3?

Does Modern Warfare 3 have Zombies?

Is Modern Warfare 3’s Zombies mode free-to-play?

In short, no, Modern Warfare 3’s Zombies experience is not free-to-play. Players have to purchase the full version of Modern Warfare 3 in order to access the game mode, even if they have no interest in the campaign or multiplayer.

If you’re an experienced CoD player, this shouldn’t exactly come as a surprise. CoD has always charged full price for its Zombies component, and this year’s release is clearly no different.

However, the trend may actually change in the coming months. With Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision now cleared, there’s technically nothing stopping the gaming giant from putting CoD titles on Xbox Game Pass. While it doesn’t appear they’re in any rush to do so, it could happen at some stage in 2024.

If that were the case, CoD players could then check out Modern Warfare 3’s Zombies mode for just the price of a Game Pass subscription.

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