Modern Warfare 4 Release Date, Editions, Early Access and Preload

Infinity Ward and Activision print 1 calendar day for every current-gen store on the list: 23 October 2026. Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Battle.net, Xbox on PC, Steam, and Nintendo Switch 2 share that day. Infinity Ward opened it early: MW4 went live worldwide at 00:30 UTC on 23 October, which was 5:30 PM PT on 22 October. Every owner can play now.

PlayStation 4 is out. Last-gen Xbox is out. MW4 is a standalone release, outside Game Pass at launch. It joins Game Pass no earlier than Holiday 2027. Game Pass Ultimate keeps Black Ops 7, Black Ops 6 and Modern Warfare III. Online Multiplayer on Xbox still needs a Game Pass Essential subscription sold separately. Xbox Play Anywhere is written down: a purchase on the Xbox Series store or the 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 and prices. CoD Points and BlackCell. Platforms and preload. Sibling pages: Campaign, DMZ, the MW4 hub.

Each row is a clock Activision or Microsoft printed. Relative words stay off this table.

The August to September test window is closed. Gameplay rank from that window reset. Cosmetics persist on the Activision account. That window is history on this page.

Campaign Early Access went live on Friday 16 October, 7 days before launch on 23 October. The Campaign is 16 missions. Early estimates put it at about 6 to 9 hours. The missions run from Mayhem to Greater Good.

Who: players who digitally pre-ordered or pre-purchased Standard Digital or Vault on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, PlayStation 5, Battle.net, Steam, and Nintendo Switch 2. Support lists Campaign Early Access under all digital editions. A disc stays off this list.

What: the Campaign. Support says full Campaign. Multiplayer and Warzone stay out of Campaign Early Access. DMZ Early Access opened on Tuesday 20 October at 10 AM PT (17:00 UTC) for the same digital pre-orders. Sibling: MW4 campaign guide.

Reserve a campaign completion on the campaign page. A pro starts when you say.

3 editions exist. Digital Vault on every listed platform. Digital Standard on every listed platform. Physical Standard on Xbox Series disc and PlayStation 5 disc. Physical Standard skips PC. Vault is digital-only.

The US Microsoft catalog prints Digital Standard at $69.99 USD (product 9NCPSQQD1Z66) and Vault at $99.99 USD (product 9NWWNS0C3007). The Vault upgrade is $30.00 (product 9N5RJ569GVZ2). Activision blogs still skip a Standard sticker. This page prints the Microsoft figures because both store listings carry them today.

Physical editions cannot take the Vault upgrade. Loyalty 10% skips upgrades. The loyalty offer covers Vault pre-orders through 23 October 2026 at official platform stores.

Digital Standard and digital Vault share these pre-order bonuses. The full game. Campaign Early Access from 16 October. Hunter Killer Operator Skin: instant in BO7 and Warzone, MW4 at launch, redeem by 23 October 2027, needs BO7 or Warzone on that platform. Gilded Pearl Camo Pack: Moonlit Pearl instant in BO7 Season 05 plus a challenge for Gilded Ruin, serialized for the opening 100,000 unlocks. Inner Circuit M4 Weapon Blueprint at MW4 launch. Xbox Series shows an Xbox 25th Anniversary treatment. Other platforms show a mil-spec treatment.

Vault adds Hostile Alliance Operator Pack (Price in 2 variants, Valeria in 2 variants, Ghost, Blix). Special Forces Operator Pack (COM SFT France, KSK Amphibious Germany, South Korean Special Forces, SAS UK, each with a local-language voice pack). Signature Weapon Collection at launch and in 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 for 1 Season. A DMZ Deployment Bonus with details still pending on Support.

Every owner plays Campaign, Multiplayer, and DMZ from launch on 23 October. Digital pre-orders entered DMZ 3 days earlier, on 20 October at 10 AM PT. Warzone integration is Season 1, which opens 6 November for MW4 and Warzone.

Official pages confirm these BO7 and Warzone items also unlock on MW4 at launch: Hunter Killer; Moonlit Pearl; Gilded Ruin. Vault BlackCell CoD Points are a new Season 1 grant. They are a Season 1 grant, separate from the BO7 wallet.

A Battle Pass exists. BlackCell covers 1 Season of that pass: 20 skips, 1,100 CoD Points, and 100+ rewards. The 1st grant opportunity is Season 1. Treat BlackCell as a Season 1 unlock. Official copy withholds a 23 October Battle Pass start.

Unspent Black Ops 7 2XP tokens carry into MW4 on the same account. Dates and token rules: MW4 double XP.

The standing pack page remains CoD Points, Battle Pass and MW4 prices.

Preload opened on Wednesday 14 October 2026 at 9 PM PT on every platform. That was 04:00 UTC and 05:00 BST on Thursday 15 October. During setup you pick which content to install. Picking Warzone installs the current Warzone, and the MW4 version of Warzone arrives with Season 1 on 6 November. On a console with automatic downloads on, the install can start before you see those options. To choose yourself, switch automatic downloads off before the install starts. Install size depends on the platform and the content you pick, so community gigabyte figures stay off this page.

What is dated is the test preload, already in the past. Early-access test preload: 9:00 AM PT Thursday 20 August 2026, every platform except Switch 2. Public-weekend preload: 9:00 AM PT Wednesday 26 August 2026, every listed platform. Those were test clocks. The FOB page also used preload language for the August beta on Switch 2. That was the beta.

Platforms at launch: Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Battle.net, Xbox on PC, Steam, Nintendo Switch 2 (native port with Digital Legends). PlayStation 4 is out. Last-gen Xbox is out. Steam listing exists (app 4435490, age-gated). Official MW4 pages skip a crossplay on/off spec. Xbox Play Anywhere is same-purchase console plus PC.

Want camo, rank or a nuke done on your login? Reserve it on the Modern Warfare 4 hub. A pro starts the day that mode is open on your account.

Digital Standard and Vault owners got Campaign Early Access on 16 October and DMZ Early Access on 20 October. Every edition, disc included, plays from launch on 23 October.

Vault at $99.99 buys the operator packs, the Signature Weapon Collection, 1 Season of BlackCell, and the DMZ bonus on top of the digital Standard list. Standard at $69.99 on the US Microsoft catalog is the full game.

Tell LFCarry which mode you want done. A pro starts as soon as that mode is open on your account. Maps and modes sit on the campaign guide and the DMZ guide.

See where MW4 sits in the series: every Call of Duty game in order, from 2003 to 2026.