Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 launches in full, with multiplayer, on Friday, October 23. The MW4 release time is midnight local time, not one global moment. The Xbox and PlayStation store listings put New Zealand first at 11:00 UTC on Thursday, October 22, the UK at 23:00 UTC, and the US and Canada at midnight Eastern (04:00 UTC), which is 9 PM Pacific on October 22. Steam’s listing shows a single, later time.
Activision’s PC intel post says the full game “releases on October 23 at midnight local time.” Its launch announcement adds that actual play time is “subject to possible outages and applicable time zone differences.” Activision hasn’t published a regional table, so the times below come from the release timestamps in the official store listings, checked October 22, 2026 at 09:55 UTC.
Coal is one of the 12 core 6v6 maps live when multiplayer unlocks on October 23. Image: Activision
Table of Contents
MW4 release time by region
The Xbox Store listing (Xbox Play Anywhere, so it covers Xbox Series X|S and the Xbox app on PC) and the PlayStation product pages give a different release timestamp for each market. Every one of them is midnight on October 23 in that market’s capital:
| Region | Local unlock time | UTC | Listed by |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Zealand | 12:00 AM NZDT, Oct 23 | 11:00, Oct 22 | Xbox, PlayStation |
| Australia (east coast) | 12:00 AM AEDT, Oct 23 | 13:00, Oct 22 | Xbox, PlayStation |
| Japan, South Korea | 12:00 AM JST/KST, Oct 23 | 15:00, Oct 22 | Xbox (Japan, Korea), PlayStation (Japan) |
| Singapore | 12:00 AM SGT, Oct 23 | 16:00, Oct 22 | Xbox |
| India | 12:00 AM IST, Oct 23 | 18:30, Oct 22 | Xbox |
| UAE | 12:00 AM GST, Oct 23 | 20:00, Oct 22 | Xbox |
| Germany, France, Spain | 12:00 AM CEST, Oct 23 | 22:00, Oct 22 | Xbox, PlayStation (Germany, Spain) |
| UK | 12:00 AM BST, Oct 23 | 23:00, Oct 22 | Xbox, PlayStation |
| Brazil | 12:00 AM BRT, Oct 23 | 03:00, Oct 23 | Xbox |
| US and Canada | 12:00 AM ET, Oct 23 (11 PM CT, 10 PM MT, 9 PM PT on Oct 22) | 04:00, Oct 23 | Xbox, PlayStation |
| Mexico | 12:00 AM CST (Mexico City), Oct 23 | 06:00, Oct 23 | Xbox |
There’s one detail to note for North America. The US and Canadian listings use a single time, midnight Eastern, so players on the West Coast get in at 9 PM on Thursday rather than waiting until their own midnight.
What time does MW4 unlock on Steam and Battle.net?
This is where the official sources don’t line up. The Steam app page lists one release timestamp for every country we checked (US, UK, New Zealand, Australia, Germany, Japan, Brazil): 05:00 UTC on October 23. That’s 1 AM ET, 10 PM PT on October 22, and 6 AM BST. On October 22 at 09:55 UTC the page said the game “plans to unlock in approximately 19 hours.” That matches 05:00 UTC, not a rolling midnight. It also explains why Steam shows “Coming Oct 22, 2026” in the US.
Activision’s PC post still says midnight local time for PC. Battle.net doesn’t publish a timestamp, and Xbox on PC follows the Xbox Store times above. If you play on Steam, treat 05:00 UTC as the listed time and check the app page on launch night in case it unlocks earlier.
Activision's PC intel post says the full game releases at midnight local time, but Steam lists 05:00 UTC. Image: Activision
Pre-load, size and early access vs full launch
- Campaign Early Access started October 16 and DMZ Early Access started October 20 (see our DMZ Early Access explainer), both for digital pre-orders only. If you’re already playing either, the game is installed.
- Full launch on October 23 adds multiplayer for everyone and is when physical copies work.
- PC pre-load opened October 15 at 9 AM PT. Activision lists 115 GB of storage, and an SSD is required. Activision hasn’t given official console download sizes or a separate console pre-load time.
Our MW4 early access and pre-load guide covers editions, prices and the early access rules in full.
Where the unofficial tables differ
Insider Gaming’s October 2 FAQ has a table built on a fixed midnight ET. It lists 5:00 AM BST, 6:00 AM CEST and 3:00 PM AET on October 23. The store listings above put the UK, Europe and Australia at their own midnight, hours earlier. Insider Gaming’s October 20 guide takes a different line: it says the launch is at local midnight with New Zealand first. Neither table is official. Where they differ, go by the store timestamps.
What else launches with it
Infinity Ward’s launch patch notes (October 21) confirm the October 23 date. They list 20 multiplayer maps at launch (12 core 6v6, three Ground War, four Gunfight and Kill Block), more than a dozen modes, 33 weapons, 33 Operators and two Prestige paths. For more, see our guide to what carries forward from Black Ops 7 and Warzone and the MW4 DMZ beginner guide.
What’s next
The unlock begins in New Zealand at 11:00 UTC today and reaches the Americas overnight. Launch-night server problems are common, and Activision posts outage and queue updates on @CODUpdates. We’ll update this post if Steam’s time changes or Activision publishes a regional schedule.
Sources: Call of Duty blog (PC intel), Call of Duty blog (launch), MW4 launch patch notes, Xbox Store, PlayStation, Steam, Insider Gaming. Store times checked October 22, 2026, 09:55 UTC.
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Featured image: Activision
