Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 launches Friday. Everything you need to know

The biggest shooter of the year arrives this week. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 launches worldwide on Friday, 23 October 2026, and some players are already in thanks to early access.

Here's everything worth knowing, without the hype.

The key dates

What	When	Who gets it
Campaign early access	Started 16 October	Anyone who pre-ordered digitally (Standard or Vault Edition)
DMZ early access	Started 20 October	Same: digital pre-orders, both editions
Full launch: campaign, multiplayer, DMZ	Friday, 23 October	Everyone
Warzone Season 1 with MW4 content	After launch	Free-to-play Warzone players

One catch: physical copies don't get early access. If you bought the disc from a shop, you'll play on launch day like everyone else.

Where you can play it

PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC and, for the first time, Nintendo Switch 2.

It's also the first modern Call of Duty to skip PS4 and Xbox One completely. If you're still on an older console, this is the year you get left behind. Warzone stopped offering new downloads on those consoles in June.

And unlike the last two games, Modern Warfare 4 is not on Xbox Game Pass at launch, so plan for the full price.

The story: Korea, and a mission in Mumbai

The campaign starts with a North Korean invasion of South Korea that spirals into a wider war. You play as Private Park, a young South Korean soldier, and Captain Price is back, this time as an outlaw working outside Task Force 141, chasing revenge and a dangerous weapon.

The campaign moves around the world: trench warfare in Korea, close-quarters fighting in New York, a chase through Paris and, one for Indian players, an SAS night raid in Mumbai. We're curious how faithfully the city is recreated. Games set in India have often leaned on clichés, so it'll be interesting to see whether this one gets the details right.

The setting is a sensitive one. Using a real, ongoing conflict between real countries as the backdrop for a blockbuster is always going to divide opinion, especially in the region itself.

Multiplayer and DMZ

• 12 core 6v6 maps at launch, plus smaller Gunfight maps and large Big War maps with vehicles.
• Kill Block, a modular training-facility map that the developers say has over 500 possible layouts.
• A new "Ballistic Authority" gunplay system, new parkour moves and reworked hip-fire.
• A rebuilt Create-a-Class, and two Prestige paths to choose from.
• DMZ, the extraction mode, returns. You drop into a shifting war zone to recover military technology and get out alive, now with changing weather.

There's no Zombies mode mentioned this year.

Who's making it

Infinity Ward, the studio behind the original Modern Warfare games, is leading development. Beenox handles the PC version, and Digital Legends worked on the Switch 2 version, with support from Treyarch, Sledgehammer, Raven and other Activision studios.

Should you buy it?

Our honest take:

• If you love campaigns, the early access reactions will tell you a lot. The Mumbai and Korea missions are the ones to watch.
• If you mostly play Warzone, you don't have to buy anything: the new content comes to the free game in Season 1.
• If you play on Game Pass, there's no rush. Wait for reviews and a sale.
• If you're on Switch 2, this is a genuinely big moment. Just keep an eye on early performance reports before buying.
• If you're still on PS4 or Xbox One, unfortunately this one isn't for you.

A small note from a small studio

We make a flight combat game ourselves, Skyfront '43, and it's humbling to see what a team of studios this size can build in a year. Different scale, same goal: making a few minutes of action feel unforgettable. Good luck to everyone diving in on Friday.

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Further reading: Modern Warfare 4 announcement (Call of Duty) · Modern Warfare 4 announced: skipping PS4 and coming to Switch 2 (VGC) · MW4 campaign early access (Windows Central) · Pre-orders add early access to DMZ (Digital Citizen)