Black Ops Cold War October 19 update patch notes: The Haunting, Zombies tweaks, more

Brad Norton
Black Ops Cold War The Haunting gameplay

The Haunting is now live in Black Ops Cold War as Treyarch just deployed an October 19 update full of new modes, features, and gameplay tweaks. We’ve got the full Cold War patch notes to get you up to speed.

It’s finally Halloween season in Call of Duty. The Haunting event is now live across Warzone and Black Ops Cold War, with CoD Mobile even getting in on its own spooky fun as well.

To kickstart the frightening occasion, Treyarch released a sizable update on October 19 filled to the brim with tricks and treats. From new weapons and modes to crucial Zombies changes, there’s plenty to sink your teeth into.

Here’s a complete overview of everything in Cold War’s October 19 patch.

The Haunting event now live in Black Ops Cold War

Scream Warzone how to unlock
The Haunting event is now live in Black Ops Cold War.

After weeks of teasers, The Haunting event is now live across Call of Duty. In Cold War specifically, there are a few key changes to make note of.

As usual, Nuketown has been given a Halloween-themed makeover. There’s a new Scream Deathmatch playlist wherein, two random players are transformed into the terrifying Ghostface. On top of that, the Infected playlist has been overrun by powerful Zombies.

Plenty of Halloween-specific playlists are now in rotation for the event as well. Be sure to check up on everything available in the full patch notes below.

CoD Zombies gets some Halloween scares

CoD Zombies Halloween gameplay
Yes, that’s a Zombie with a pumpkin on its head.

From the classic round-based experience to the newer Outbreak mode, CoD Zombies has been tweaked across the board to reflect the time of year. Halloween season is in full effect on just about every map and mode as specific gameplay tweaks are now active.

Every Zombie has a chance to drop a Jack O’Lantern upon death, providing your team with unique rewards. Moreover, players have access to Scare Packages, new music is available, and certain foes can even appear with pumpkins on their heads.

For Outbreak fans, Hallow’s Eve is now active for the duration of The Haunting. This limited-time mode ramps up the difficulty every two minutes as your team tries to survive long enough for help to arrive.

Alongside the new additions, dozens of bug fixes and stability issues have also been resolved in the latest patch.

Full Black Ops Cold War October 19 patch notes

Global

Events

  • The Haunting
    • The Haunting Event live from October 19th to November 2nd in and .
    • Complete event challenges in both games to unlock new in-game rewards, including the new LAPA SMG.

Weapons

  • LAPA
    • New SMG available via event challenges.
    • Complete a full set of 9 challenges in either or during The Haunting Event to unlock the LAPA.

Multiplayer

Maps

  • Nuketown Halloween
    • Special Halloween version of Nuketown ‘84 added to Multiplayer rotation during The Haunting Event.

Modes

  • Scream Deathmatch
    • Scream Deathmatch added to Multiplayer Featured Playlists.
    • Two random players will become Ghostface and must eliminate all Survivors.
    • Survivors will have no weapons and must run and hide from the killers.
    • Survivors will periodically scream throughout the match, giving away their position and forcing them to stay on the move.
    • The match ends when the killers have killed all Survivors, or when a final Survivor rises up to defeat the killers.
  • Infected
    • Infected added to Multiplayer Featured Playlists. Supports up to 18 players.
    • Zombies attempt to kill the Survivors to add them to the undead team.
    • The remaining Survivors win if they beat the clock, or the Zombies win if they turn every Survivor.
    • Survivors will earn a bonus with each Zombie they kill:
      • Bonus to reload speed
      • Bonus to ADS speed
      • Bonus to movement speed
      • Bonus to slide speed
  • Nuketown Halloween Prop Hunt
    • Nuketown Halloween Prop Hunt added to Party Games and Nuketown Halloween Featured Playlists.
    • New Halloween-themed props include skulls, jack-o’-lanterns, spiders, and more on the Nuketown Halloween map.

Scare Packages

  • Call in Halloween-themed Care Packages for some tricks and treats. 🙂

Playlists

  • Nuketown Halloween
    • Nuketown Halloween added to Featured Playlists.
    • Includes Team Deathmatch, Domination, Kill Confirmed, and Nuketown Halloween Prop Hunt. Mode voting enabled.

Featured Playlists

  • Nuketown Halloween [NEW] (includes Nuketown Halloween Prop Hunt)
  • Scream Deathmatch [NEW]
  • Infected [NEW]
  • Gunfight Tournament [NEW]
  • Face Off 6v6
  • 12v12 Moshpit
  • Party Games (includes Nuketown Halloween Prop Hunt)
  • Multi-Team

Zombies

Halloween Updates

  • Jack O’Lantern Drops
    • Zombies have a chance to drop the new Jack O’Lantern item for additional rewards, including Wonder Weapons, Support Weapons, Ammo Mods, Chalices, Aether Tools, and high-level Armor.
  • Scare Packages
    • During The Haunting Event, Scare Packages containing high-value rewards will spawn every five rounds in round-based maps, and in every Outbreak Region.
  • Pumpkin Heads
    • Zombies with pumpkin heads will appear in all modes. These weak points have low health and can be shot off for Essence bonuses.
  • Spooky Soundtrack
    • Added new Halloween in-game music during The Haunting.

Outbreak

  • Modes
    • Hallows’ Eve Outbreak
      • New Outbreak mode available during The Haunting.
      • Players must survive against increasingly aggressive hordes in a single Region for 10 minutes before Exfil begins.
      • Difficulty ramps up every 2 minutes, and zombie spawns are constantly at maximum. Zombies are always aware of the squad’s location.
      • The Orda battle is the only available World Event.
      • After 10 minutes, Exfil will begin at the location farthest from the squad.
  • Outbreak Survival
    • Outbreak Survival mode now available in Private and Solo matches.

Round-Based Maps

  • “Forsaken”
    • Gameplay
      • Addressed an issue that allowed players to become invisible while playing an arcade game.
      • Addressed several erroneous out of bounds warnings within legitimate play spaces.
      • Addressed an issue that could cause players to be erroneously teleported while in the Observation Tower space.
      • Addressed an issue that caused the arcade activation prompts to appear when already occupied or during Exfil.
      • Addressed an issue that caused players to receive the previous rewards when restarting the Der Eisendrache pinball game but not participating.
      • Addressed an issue that could cause players to not retain Support items acquired during the Der Eisendrache pinball game.
    • Enemies
      • Addressed an issue that caused the Abomination to become stuck on the Main Street bridge.
      • Addressed an issue that caused the Abomination to use the Special enemy icon on the mini-map instead of the Elite enemy icon.
      • Addressed a rare issue that could caused the Abomination to be moved nearby after a charge attack.
      • Addressed an issue that could cause zombies to not visibly disintegrate properly when hit with the Abomination’s Beam Attack.
      • Addressed an issue that prevented the Abomination from being able to destroy respawned Aetherium crystals.
      • Addressed an issue that could allow the Disciple to follow players into arcade mini-games.
    • Wonder Weapons
      • Addressed an issue that prevented ammo from being granted when Pack-a-Punching the Chrysalax to Tier II or III.
    • Main Quest
      • Addressed an issue that caused Ammo Caches to disappear during the later steps of the Main Quest.
    • General
      • Addressed an issue that caused players to be granted 1,000 Essence instead of 500 when starting a new match.
      • Closed various exploit areas where players could not be reached by enemies.
      • Closed various exploits related to the use of PhD Slider or the Sai Melee weapon to slide to unintended areas.

Stability

  • “Forsaken”
    • Added stability fixes related to the Chrysalax Wonder Weapon.
    • Added stability fixes related to the Pizza Delivery side quest in “Forsaken.”
    • Added a stability fix related to the Aetherium Neutralizer in the “Forsaken” Main Quest.
    • Added a stability fix related to the Main Quest debris barricade in “Forsaken.”
  • General
    • Added stability fixes related to the Abomination.
    • Added a stability fix related to the ARC-XD Support Weapon.
    • Added a stability fix related to Duel Wield weapons with Ammo Mods.
    • Added a stability fix for a crash that could occur when a player was downed.

Perks

  • Addressed an issue that caused a non-functional Tombstone Stash to spawn when dying without the Perk after having had the Perk during a previous life.

Support

  • Closed some invincibility exploits related to use of the ARC-XD.

Wonder Weapons

  • Addressed an issue that caused incorrect ammo to be granted to the D.E.A.D. Joltsurge Wonder weapon when receiving the Max Ammo power-up.

Featured Playlists

  • Hallows’ Eve Outbreak [NEW]
  • Outbreak (Endless and 3 Region)
  • Forsaken
  • Mauer der Toten
  • Firebase Z
  • Die Maschine
  • Dead Ops Arcade 3 (Standard and First-Person)
  • Onslaught (PlayStation®)
  • Onslaught Elite (PlayStation)
  • Onslaught Containment (PlayStation)

Related Topics

About The Author

Brad Norton is the Australian Managing Editor at Dexerto. He graduated from Swinburne University with a Bachelor’s degree in journalism and has been working full-time in the field for the past six years at the likes of Gamurs Group and now Dexerto. He loves all things single-player gaming (with Uncharted a personal favorite) but has a history on the competitive side having previously run Oceanic esports org Mindfreak. You can contact Brad at brad.norton@dexerto.com