Call of Duty: Mobile is going full monster movie for Halloween. Activision has detailed Season 9, Vampires vs Werewolves, which goes live on iOS and Android on October 14 at 5PM PT (that is midnight UTC on October 15). It is the first season of the game whose theme was chosen by player vote, and the community also picked the headline Operator Skin and Weapon Blueprint designs in the new Battle Pass. Alongside the cosmetics, the update adds a faction war event, a new take on Kill Confirmed, a new assault rifle and a Día de Muertos event. It also adds an option to download the season early.
Fang Wars: pick a side, and it actually matters
The centrepiece is Fang Wars, a server-wide faction event. When it opens, you sign up with either the Vampires or the Werewolves, then complete missions with your team to push your faction's progress ahead of the other side. Some rewards are locked to your choice. Vampires earn the SO-14 — Moonlit Marksman Rifle blueprint, and Werewolves get the Type 25 — Lone Wolf assault rifle blueprint. Choose your side by which gun you want, because you can't earn the other faction's blueprint.
The rest of the milestone track is shared, so nobody misses out on the bulk of the event. Both factions can unlock the Purifier — Deadly Nightshade Operator Skill skin, the Type 19 — Petal Pattern assault rifle blueprint and the Swagger Strongbox, among other items. Every participant gets both the Vampire Victory and Werewolves Victory calling cards regardless of how the war ends. The winning side gets a gold version of its own card, which is the only bragging right on the line.
Leader's Kill Confirmed: a new limited-time mode
The new limited-time multiplayer mode is Leader's Kill Confirmed. Each team has a single Leader, a mech-equipped Operator who is visible to both teams for the whole match. Taking down a Leader drops a dog tag worth far more points than a normal tag, and the Leader role then passes to another player on that team.
That creates a three-way tug of war in every match: guard your own Leader, hunt the enemy one, or sweep up regular tags. Standard Operators are not left helpless against the mechs. They gain special abilities that grow stronger as the match goes on, which should keep the late game from becoming a Leader stomp.
Two older collaboration playlists also return for a limited time. The Street Fighter 6 modes Shoryu and Hadoken are back, and so is Honkai: Gleaming Front from the Honkai Impact 3rd collab, with some tweaks. Halloween regulars Attack of the Undead returns on Haunted Hacienda and Haunted Standoff, and both maps also get their own 24/7 playlists at different points in the season.
Call of the Dead and a skeletal dog pack
Running alongside Fang Wars is Call of the Dead, a Día de Muertos event built around a currency called Howlbones. You spend them in an event store on themed items such as the Contact Grenade — Calaverita and Cluster Grenade — Pan de Muerto, plus a weapon charm, an emote, a Día de Muertos calling card, and the usual avatars, sprays, stickers and a frame.
The prize most players will chase is the K-9 Unit — Fantasma Operator Skill skin, which reskins the K-9 Unit Operator Skill as a pack of skeletal hounds. It unlocks automatically once you have collected 100 Howlbones, so it is a grind goal rather than a purchase.
The Battle Pass, designed by players
This is the first Battle Pass where the community voted on the designs. The two winners were the Minotaur — Pack Commander werewolf Operator skin and the Sparrowhawk — Moonlight Vengeance vampire skin. Both sit in the premium tiers next to the CX9 — Wolven Moonrise SMG and 3-Line Rifle — Cantus Rubra sniper blueprints. The premium track also includes Artery — The Hunter, Calisto — The Witch, the MG82 — Bloodsucker's Ban LMG blueprint and a Grav — Solstice Herald blueprint.
The Battle Pass Subscription, branded Ground Forces, adds a monthly bundle on top: an Urban Makarov Operator skin, the R9-0 — Hellborne Hybrid shotgun blueprint and a Hybrid Howl backpack. It also gives a 10% boost to player and weapon XP plus discounts on crate pulls. The free Season 9 Challenge Pass runs on daily and weekly tasks and pays out tokens for rewards that include the QXR — Rose Requiem blueprint and a Showoff emote.
A new free weapon: the Grav
The season's new gun is the Grav assault rifle, and it sits in the free tiers of the Battle Pass, so every player can earn it without paying. Activision pitches it as a long-range rifle whose high bullet velocity suits distant targets. It's an AR for the bigger maps, not a close-range bullet hose.
Download the season before it starts
A small but welcome quality-of-life change also arrives with Season 9. Players can now opt in to download each new season's content ahead of time through the in-game Download Manager. On launch night, that means less time watching a progress bar and more time playing, which matters a lot on phones with slower connections.
Store: draws, re-runs and a Halloween sale
The store gets its usual seasonal turnover. The Hunger Eternal draw is headlined by the legendary Grav — Vitae Devourer blueprint and the Samael Operator skin. Weresoldier Unleashed pairs the AK-117 — Lycan Eclipse with the Bulldozer — Super Weresoldier skin, and Sapphire Winter offers an icy Einhorn Revolving shotgun with the Tempest — Sapphire skin. A Dark Ritual Series Armory adds four Operator skins, three of them animated: Horangi, König, Ghost and Corso in occult outfits.
Two Mythic weapons return: the RAM-7 — Nebula's Brush in Whorl of Midnight and the AK-47 — Radiance in Ultraviolet. The Street Fighter weapon and character armories also come back for a limited window. A Halloween Sale then runs from October 28 to November 3, with discounts on seasonal draws, lucky boxes and crates.
When it starts
Season 9 — Vampires vs Werewolves goes live on October 14 at 5PM PT, 8PM ET, or midnight UTC on October 15. It is a free update for Call of Duty: Mobile on iOS and Android. If you want to be in the first Fang Wars matches as the season opens, turn on early downloads in the Download Manager before then.
