Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Preload and Global Launch Times Revealed for Campaign, DMZ, and Full Game

Activision has officially announced the global release schedule and preload information for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, which will roll out in multiple phases over the next few weeks.

The full game, including Multiplayer, launches on October 23 across all platforms. However, those with Early Access can dive into the campaign a week earlier, starting October 16. The extraction mode, DMZ, goes live on October 20.

Whether you're playing on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, or Nintendo Switch 2, this guide covers everything you need to know to hit the ground running: release times, preload details, Early Access launch, and more.

As mentioned, Modern Warfare 4 officially releases on October 23, but the exact time you can start playing depends on whether you have Early Access and your platform of choice.

PC players will be able to jump in at midnight local time on October 23. Regardless of your region, the game unlocks at midnight. If it doesn't start immediately, try fully closing and restarting Steam to trigger the unlock.

Campaign Early Access for Modern Warfare 4 begins on October 16, 2026, for those who digitally preorder the Standard Digital Edition or Vault Edition. Physical preorders of the Standard Edition do not include Early Access.

Additionally, preorder customers will get Early Access to DMZ mode, which starts on October 20.

Here's a breakdown of the Modern Warfare 4 editions:

Preload for Modern Warfare 4 will begin on October 14 at 9pm PT. Here's how that translates to other regions:

During setup, you can select which content to download, including whether to install Warzone alongside Modern Warfare 4. The new Warzone version won't be available until Season 1 launches.

Xbox players can potentially bypass regional restrictions using the New Zealand trick: change your console's timezone to New Zealand in the settings to pre-install and play early.

According to the official system requirements, Modern Warfare 4 requires 115GB of SSD space on PC. Console versions may vary depending on the content you download, but they'll likely be similar.

Modern Warfare 4 minimum PC requirements:

Modern Warfare 4 recommended PC requirements (90fps, High Settings):