Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 early access starts tomorrow, Friday, October 16: digital pre-order owners on every platform can play the campaign a full week before the October 23 launch, and PC preloading opens today, October 15, at 9am PT. Here is the full schedule, what each edition costs and includes, and what Activision has and hasn’t confirmed about start times.
MW4's campaign is set during a North Korean invasion of South Korea. Image: Activision
Table of Contents
Modern Warfare 4 release schedule at a glance
Activision has spread MW4’s launch over three dates. All of them are confirmed on the official Call of Duty blog:
| Date | What unlocks | Who gets it |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday, Oct 15, 9am PT (12pm ET / 5pm BST / 16:00 UTC) | PC preload | Digital pre-purchases on Steam, Battle.net and Xbox on PC |
| Friday, Oct 16 | Campaign Early Access | Digital Standard and Vault Edition pre-orders, all platforms |
| Tuesday, Oct 20 | DMZ Early Access | Digital Standard and Vault Edition pre-orders, all platforms |
| Friday, Oct 23 | Full game, including multiplayer | Everyone |
Early access covers Xbox Series X|S, PS5, Steam, Battle.net, Xbox on PC and Nintendo Switch 2. Physical disc pre-orders do not qualify: Activision ties both early access windows to digital pre-orders and pre-purchases only.
What time does MW4 Campaign Early Access start?
Activision has not published an exact unlock hour for October 16; its posts give only the date, subject to time zones and possible outages. For the full launch, the PC intel post says the game “releases on October 23 at midnight local time.” Steam’s US store page currently lists October 22, so PC players in the Americas may see the full game unlock on the evening of the 22nd. Activision hasn’t detailed a global PC unlock time, so treat any specific hour you see elsewhere as an estimate until it does.
The campaign follows Private Park, a young South Korean soldier in his first live combat, as North Korea launches a full-scale invasion. Activision’s official campaign trailer:
PC preload: size and requirements
PC is the only platform with an officially dated preload. Activision lists 115 GB of SSD storage for every spec tier, and an SSD is required. TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot are also mandatory, so check both in your BIOS before the campaign unlocks. The minimum spec is a GTX 970/1060 or RX 470 with 8 GB of RAM. Activision’s recommended spec for 90 fps in multiplayer on High is an RTX 3060 Ti, RX 6600 XT or Arc B580 with 16 GB of RAM.
Activision hasn’t announced console preload times or download sizes (figures circulating online come from third parties), so PS5, Xbox and Switch 2 owners should check their library for a download option.
DMZ Early Access opens on October 20 for digital pre-orders. Image: Activision
Modern Warfare 4 editions and price
There are three editions, according to Activision’s pre-order guide. Prices are from the Steam store page:
| Edition | Price (US) | Platforms | Key extras |
|---|---|---|---|
| Digital Standard | $69.99 | All | Campaign and DMZ Early Access, Hunter Killer Operator, Gilded Pearl Camo Pack, Inner Circuit M4 Blueprint (pre-order bonuses) |
| Vault Edition (digital only) | $99.99 | All | All of the above, plus Hostile Alliance Operator Pack (Price, Valeria, Ghost, Blix), Special Forces Operator Pack, five-weapon Signature Weapon Collection, one season of BlackCell, DMZ Deployment Bonus |
| Physical Standard | Varies by retailer | PS5, Xbox Series X, Switch 2 | Full game; no Campaign or DMZ Early Access |
Upgrading from Digital Standard to Vault costs $30 on the same platform. Players who own and have played a premium Call of Duty released since Modern Warfare (2019) on the same platform account get 10% off the Vault Edition. That discount ends on October 23 and doesn’t apply to upgrades. At the pre-order launch in May, Activision also said MW4 won’t be on Game Pass at launch.
Digital pre-orders also earn the “Shattered Relay” ICR-1 blueprint in Call of Duty: Mobile, delivered from October 30 if you log into MW4 on launch day (details).
The $99.99 Vault Edition is digital only. Image: Activision
Why it matters
Activision calls MW4 the first Modern Warfare game on a Nintendo platform in more than a decade. Infinity Ward built the Switch 2 version natively with Digital Legends, and it ships on the same day as the other versions. DMZ also returns as a full extraction mode, set in the war-torn Hajin region. This week’s other big launch is Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse; Xbox players can also read up on the new Xbox Nano Controller, and our Call of Duty: Vanguard launch guide shows how a 2021 launch compared.
What’s next
Campaign Early Access opens tomorrow, DMZ follows on October 20, and the full game with multiplayer arrives on October 23. Activision says Season 1 will follow “shortly after” launch, bringing MW4 content into Call of Duty: Warzone with a new Operator Skin toggle. It hasn’t given a Season 1 date yet. We’ll update this post if Activision publishes exact unlock times for the campaign or console preloads.
Sources: Call of Duty blog (PC preload and specs), Call of Duty blog (Campaign and DMZ Early Access), Call of Duty blog (editions), Call of Duty blog (Inner Circuit blueprint), Call of Duty blog (Switch 2), Steam. Checked October 15, 2026.
Featured image: Activision
