Modern Warfare 4 Release Date, Editions, Early Access & Preload — Everything Dated

Official announcement copy names one calendar day for every current-gen store listed: Friday 23 October 2026. Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Battle.net, Xbox on PC, Steam, and Nintendo Switch 2 share that date. A per-platform clock such as 9:00 AM PT is unpublished — official pages print the date only, and the footnotes say actual play time can move with outages and time zones. Write “when the servers open on 23 October,” never a made-up hour.

Last-generation consoles are out. The same announcement says the game is not on PlayStation 4 or Xbox One. Game Pass at launch is also a no. Xbox Play Anywhere is the one digital exception that is written down: a purchase on the Xbox Series store or Xbox on PC store unlocks both. PC needs TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot. An Activision account is required; a mobile phone number may be required.

This page is the dated calendar: launch, Campaign Early Access, editions, CoD Points / BlackCell, and what is still unpublished. Maps: 2026 multiplayer maps. Campaign: campaign guide. Warzone: Season 1 integration.

One row, one clock, one official source class. Relative words such as “soon” are not used here.

The August–September test window is closed. Gameplay rank from that window reset; cosmetics persist on the Activision account. This page does not treat that window as a live product.

Support writes “starting Friday, October 16 (PT).” The Campaign Early Access blog names the same Friday. No official hour is published. Store footnotes say the start can change. Treat 16 October as the day, not a clock.

Who. Players who digitally pre-ordered or pre-purchased Standard Digital or Vault on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, PS5, Battle.net, Steam, and Switch 2. Support lists Campaign EA under all digital editions, not physical. A disc does not put you on this list.

What. The Campaign — Support says “full Campaign.” Not Multiplayer, not DMZ, not Warzone. An official mission list is unpublished. We do not invent act splits or a hour-count. Sibling: MW4 campaign guide.

If the story is the product you want first, a digital Standard or Vault pre-order is the gate official pages name. Reserve a campaign completion on the campaign page — a pro starts when that window opens; cancel for a full refund any time before the session starts.

Three editions: Digital Vault (all platforms); Digital Standard (all platforms); Physical Standard (Xbox Series disc and PS5 disc; not PC). Vault is not physical.

Vault MSRP on the US Microsoft catalog (product 9NWWNS0C3007) is $99.99 USD, repeated on xbox.com. Activision blogs never print a Standard sticker. The $30 Vault upgrade is official (Microsoft product 9N5RJ569GVZ2, $30.00). Subtracting $30 from $99.99 is an inference, not a figure Activision wrote. This page does not print $69.99 as official. Physical cannot upgrade. Loyalty 10% does not apply to upgrades.

Digital Standard / digital pre-order bonuses (pre-order blog + Support + store pages): the full game; early access to the August test (already closed); Campaign Early Access from 16 October; Hunter Killer Operator Skin (instant in BO7 / Warzone, MW4 at launch; redeem by 23 October 2027; needs BO7 or Warzone on that platform); Gilded Pearl Camo Pack — Moonlit Pearl universal camo (instant in BO7 Season 05) plus a challenge for Gilded Ruin (serialized for the first 100,000). Both unlock on MW4 weapons at launch on 23 October.

Vault-only, in addition: Hostile Alliance Operator Pack (Price masked/unmasked, Valeria masked/unmasked, Ghost, Blix) — available in the multiplayer test and at launch; in Warzone from Season 01. Special Forces Operator Pack (COM SFT France, KSK Amphibious Germany, SK Special Forces, SAS UK, local-language voice packs) — launch + Warzone Season 01. Signature Weapon Collection (base + blueprint + Apex at launch; Warzone Season 01): Kastov 762 / Voltspine; ISO Nightshade / La Sombra Venenosa; Rezi 12 / Shattered Code; Oris 8.6 / Volt-Edge; Combat Knife / Sombra Besada. BlackCell (1 Season): 1,100 CoD Points, 20 Tier Skips, exclusive Operator + blueprint, full Battle Pass 100+ rewards — access when the Season 1 Battle Pass is in-game. Buy or play before/during Season 1 → Season 1 BlackCell; a later purchase → the current season. DMZ Deployment Bonus: contents unpublished (“stay tuned”).

A general “all CoD Points and XP tokens carry from Black Ops 7 into MW4” wallet rule is unpublished as an MW4-specific statement. What is officially confirmed BO7 → MW4: Hunter Killer; Moonlit Pearl; Gilded Ruin. Vault BlackCell CoD Points are a new Season 1 grant, not a BO7 transfer.

Battle Pass exists. BlackCell is one season of that pass: 20 skips, 1,100 CP, 100+ rewards. First grant opportunity is Season 1. Season 1’s calendar day is unpublished. Do not treat BlackCell as a day-one 23 October unlock unless the Season 1 Battle Pass is already in-game.

RICOCHET Anti-Cheat is listed as live in Modern Warfare 4 on the official store. Permanent bans from CoD titles since MW (2019) may be ineligible to play MW4. Battle.net permanently banned accounts cannot buy MW4 on Battle.net; they may buy on Xbox / PlayStation / Steam but cannot play online. We do not write “zero bans” or “100% safe.” Work on this site is hand-played on your account or piloted, VPN-matched to region, no third-party tools; if a suspension is on us we re-do or refund.

The standing CoD Points pack page remains COD Points, Battle Pass & MW4 Prices — this section is the MW4-specific refresh, not a second monetization URL.

Full-game preload dates: unpublished on official pages fetched 13 September 2026. Full-game file sizes: unpublished on those pages. Community 329 GB claims are not used here.

What is dated is the test preload, already in the past: early-access preload 9:00 AM PT Thursday 20 August 2026 (all platforms except Switch 2); public-weekend preload 9:00 AM PT Wednesday 26 August 2026 (all platforms). Those clocks do not become a launch preload by analogy.

Platforms at launch: Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Battle.net, Xbox on PC, Steam, Nintendo Switch 2 (native port with Digital Legends). Not PlayStation 4, not Xbox One. Steam listing exists (app 4435490; age-gated). Crossplay on/off toggles are unpublished on official MW4 pages fetched that day. Xbox Play Anywhere is same-purchase console + PC, not a crossplay-toggle spec.

Install the client when Activision publishes a preload. Until then this page will not invent one. If you want a day-one slot for camo, rank, or a nuke, reserve it on the Modern Warfare 4 hub — a pro starts when the servers open on 23 October; cancel for a full refund any time before the session starts.

1. callofduty.com — MW4 announcement (read 13 Sep 2026): 23 October; platforms; not last-gen; Game Pass no; Warzone in Season 1.
2. Pre-order benefits and editions: Vault contents, $30 upgrade, loyalty 10%, TPM / phone, Play Anywhere.
3. Campaign Early Access and Support editions: 16 October (PT), digital only, full Campaign.
4. Xbox Vault Edition 9NWWNS0C3007: $99.99 USD.
5. EYNTK: August test clocks (historical).
6. Official store: RICOCHET live in MW4.

Standard USD sticker, launch preload, launch install size, and the Season 1 calendar day remain unpublished.