Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

Zombies mode in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is very much about surviving as long as possible while facing endless waves of zombies. It’s the perfect setup for players who want a serious challenge, whether they’re teaming up with friends or tackling the hordes on their own in solo play.

For those who prefer playing solo and offline, saving progress mid-game is now an option, which is a pretty big deal. In previous Call of Duty games, once you started a round of Zombies, you had to keep going until it was game over or you decided to quit, losing all progress if you had to leave early. With this new save feature, Black Ops 6 has finally, and thankfully,  given players a better option.

How to Save in Solo Zombies Mode

If you’re playing Zombies mode alone in Black Ops 6, saving is pretty straightforward. When you’re in the middle of a solo game on either the Terminus or Liberty Falls maps, all you have to do is press the Esc button on your keyboard or the Start button on your console controller. 

This will bring up a pause menu with an option to “Save and Quit” on the right side of the screen. Selecting this creates a save file that lets you pick up where you left off whenever you come back to the game. 

But there are a few key rules around when you can save your game in Zombies mode. First, your health bar needs to be full before the game will let you save and exit. So if you’re low on health, you’ll need to wait for it to heal before leaving. 

Also, you can’t save during an ongoing round. You have to finish the round you’re on before quitting. And if you’re in the middle of an “exfil” process, which is calling in a chopper to leave the area, you can’t save until that process is complete or canceled. These rules do keep the game fair and make sure that players can’t exploit the save feature to escape tricky situations in this often hectic game mode.

How to Pause in Solo Zombies Mode

In Black Ops 6’s Zombies mode, solo players can also finally pause the action mid-game instead of saving and quitting. Unlike previous entries where pausing didn’t actually stop the zombies, Black Ops 6 halts the game completely when you pause solo, giving you a real chance to take a break without worrying about getting ambushed. 

However, the catch is that the pause feature only lasts for 15 minutes. This means you can move away for a quick break, but after that timer ends, the game will automatically resume, whether you’re ready or not. 

A visible countdown appears above the menu options which lets you know exactly how much pause time you have left. Also, the timer doesn’t reset if you pause again later. 15 minutes is the total amount you get per session. If you need a longer break, it is best to save and exit the game instead. 

Despite the positive change, both of these save and pause features are only available in solo play. This means co-op players are still left out. They can’t save and return as solo players can, so if they start a co-op session, they have to commit to playing it all the way through or lose progress if they need to stop.

Considering the fact that Zombies mode has always been extremely popular for co-op, this limitation does feel like a missed opportunity. Fans are hopeful that Treyarch might eventually expand the save feature to co-op as well.