Call of Duty Black Ops: Another Cold War Easter egg spotted in Warzone’s Karst River Quarry

The 2019 Call of Duty title took players back to the world of 2007’s Modern Warfare, and 2020’s release appears to be doing the same with 2010’s Black Ops.

Thanks to a leaked promotional campaign with Doritos, we know the next entry in the series is called Black Ops: Cold War. Now, it looks like the season-five version of Warzone’s Verdansk is doing everything it can to get players talking about the old-school Black Ops games.

The year 1961: Operation 40

Eagle-eyed players @PrestigeIsKey and @XDflamer99have spotted the year 1961 in at least a couple of spots throughout the map, including the Karst River Quarry. This almost certainly refers to the date stamp at the start of “Operation 40,” the very first campaign mission in 2010’s Black Ops.

“The mission takes place in Santa Maria, Cuba, on April 17, 1961,” the Call of Duty wiki explains, “as Mason, Woods, and Bowman attempt to assassinate Cuba’s notorious dictator, Fidel Castro.” But the mission gets botched. “Castro explains that Mason and the team merely killed a double, leaving the real Fidel Castro still alive.”

Inside the stadium: A mysterious Russian code?

GamesRadar and a number of Warzone players have discovered another likely Cold War tease inside the Verdansk sporting arena. “Players who have made their way inside of the stadium are finding they can use keycards to unlock certain office doors,” GamesRadar reports. “Inside the rooms [are] interactive computers displaying a Matrix-inspired screensaver.”

At least a portion of the code is written in Russian.

What do these Easter eggs mean, exactly? Well, we may get some answers on Monday, August 10, when Activision finally cracks the lid on the next era of Black Ops.

Warzone season five

Modern Warfare and Warzone both got a massive seasonal update on August 5, introducing a new battle pass; new maps for 6v6 multiplayer, Ground War, and Gunfight; and of course a season’s worth of new modes, Operators, weapons, and cosmetic rewards.

For more, check out all of Gfinity’s season-five Modern Warfare coverage.