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Can’t join your friends in Cold War Outbreak? Here’s how to fix the party bug

Get around the 'cannot join the Zombie lobby until the Zombie content is downloaded and installed?' bug

Are you struggling to join a friend or two for a game of Outbreak, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s new zombies mode? Well, you aren’t alone. Over the weekend, social media was full of players complaining they couldn’t join their friend’s parties, frustrating many during this free trial period.

Treyarch has remained tight-lipped so far, but don’t worry – there is a workaround. If you’ve been hit with the error: ‘Cannot join the Zombie lobby until the Zombie content is downloaded and installed’, ask the party host to head back to the main menu – the one with the options to play Black Ops Cold War, Call of Duty: Warzone, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.

It might sound a bit strange, but trust us it works. Once the host is there, you should be able to join their party without any problem whatsoever and jump straight into an Outbreak match. You’ll also want to make sure you’ve added their Activision ID to your friends list.

It’s a strange little bug – one that’ll hopefully be patched out in the next update – but it’s not the only one to affect zombies in Cold War history. When the game first came out, zombies (and parts of multiplayer) was completely unplayable for split-screen players.

While we’re still waiting for an official fix, the workaround for this bug should get you playing in no time. Just remember to set up a mind blowing class from our best zombies loadouts guide before you get going. Oh, and check out our best Aetherium crystals upgrades guide to work out what to spend your crystals on too.