Warzone's festive terror Krampus returns, two winters after bullying Call of Duty players to the point they wanted them gone forever

Krampus in Call of Duty key art
(Image credit: Activision)

Krampus, the festive goat demon who terrorized Call of Duty players two winters ago, has returned to Warzone.

In European folklore, while Santa Claus showers good kids with gifts and joy, Krampus deals with the naughty ones with tricks and sometimes violence. Naturally, these holiday duties had Krampus cross paths with the toxic realm of Call of Duty Warzone back in 2021, where the demon hunted down players at the end of tight matches. 

The event's tough difficulty has haunted Call of Duty player's nightmares every winter since, and while the event itself isn't returning, the beast has now been immortalized in an in-game Easter Egg. 

The Santa's Slayground Christmas event kicked off on December 20, and along with timed rewards, the update introduced the reference to Warzone's Urzikstan map. Players traveling to the map's cargo beach can interact with an ominous arm stretching out from the rubble.

Doing so rewards you with an anxiety-inducing "Krampus Is Hunting You" pop-up, a voice line from the menace, and a "He Hunts You" animated calling card. (Only one of them is a proper reward, but another reminder of Krampus's cursed existence is always good.)

Elsewhere for the series, Call of Duty 2024 is reportedly another Black Ops outing set during the ‘90s Gulf War, currently in development at Treyarch. Not much else is known about the game - you’ll presumably still be focused on shooting - though it’s one of at least four more annual Call Of Duty games incoming. 

Check out our Modern Warfare 3 review for the latest Call Of Duty verdict. 

Freelance contributor

Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.

Read more
A player wearing a gasmask and holding a gun during the shooter, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
Call of Duty season 2 brings back Gun Game and a fan-favorite Zombies weapon we haven't seen in 10 years
Two Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 players using omnimovement to dive past each other on the Skyline map
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 2 brings back a beloved game mode fans have been begging for, but all I care about is a practically meaningless bug fix
soldiers dropping in from the sky and looking over verdansk
Warzone's original map is returning next month, but it's still not enough: "We don't just want Verdansk back. We want everything back"
Killing Floor 3 screenshots of a member of NIghtfall wearing a gas mask next to images of burning foes that surround the Big in 2025 logo
Killing Floor 3 is bringing us gloriously gory co-op FPS action in 2025, and Tripwire says it's "at its best when you are just barely surviving"
Bethesda/JeySerpa via NexusMods
I'm no Grinch, but will someone please direct me to the good Christmas games?
Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge PS2 screenshot of Jack and Soul Robber
I'm fed up of pretending The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge isn't a Christmas game, and a hauntingly good one at that
Latest in FPS
Former Valve exec recounts the meeting where Half-Life's publisher almost killed the iconic FPS: "Half-Life would quietly die. I was stunned"
FBC Firebreak screenshot for GamesRadar Big Preview showing a character throwing an electric shock grenade in a crowded room
FBC: Firebreak may be Remedy's first live-service game but the Control creators are going about it the right way, confirming that all playable post-launch content "will always be free"
"Valve would never ship another game": Former exec forced Half-Life publisher's hand by saying Gabe Newell and the team would pivot away from game dev
Gordon Freeman
Valve literally gives Half-Life away now, but 27 years ago it was carefully crushing its angry pirates: "None of them had actually bought the game"
FBC: Firebreak gameplay trailer reveal in Future Games Show: Spring Showcase
With an impressive new FBC: Firebreak trailer at the Future Games Show, Remedy confirms a Summer 2025 release window for its co-op shooter set in the Control universe
GoldenEye 007
After 28 years, competitive GoldenEye players have documented what happens when you tie in the N64 FPS: "We experienced something that was only theorised"
Latest in News
Posing with a rifle in the Fallout 76 Ghoul update
Fallout 76's art director "had to fight really hard" so Bethesda would make the MMO's map bigger than Skyrim's
Minecraft movie image of Jack Black as steve
Don't expect Minecraft to go free-to-play anytime soon, as Mojang says "It doesn't really work with the way we built it"
Yasuke looking over the water to a shrine during sunset in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Assassin's Creed Shadows has an entire island stuffed with adorable kittens you need to check out, and it's based on an actual Japanese cat paradise
phase zero key art showing zombies in a hallway
Former Witcher 3 and Dying Light devs reveal their Resident Evil homage, complete with PS1-style fixed cameras
Shadow of Mordor's Nemesis System was only created because WB Games wanted something to combat Batman Arkham Asylum's second-hand sales, exec says
First-person screenshot from ASYLUM, showing the protagonist's hand holding up a notebook while walking through a dark corridor.
After 15 years and a $120,000 Kickstarter push, this cult horror dev has finally released a successor to their 2006 breakout game