Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Preload and Global Release Times Confirmed for Campaign, DMZ, and the Full Game
Activision has confirmed the global release times and preload details for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, which launches in various parts over the coming weeks.
Modern Warfare 4 (full game including Multiplayer) officially launches on October 23 across all platforms, but you’ll be able to play the campaign a week before that with Early Access, which kicks off on October 16. DMZ, Modern Warfare 4's extraction mode, is available from October 20.
Whether you’re playing Modern Warfare 4 on PC, PS5, Xbox Series consoles, or Nintendo Switch 2, this post will cover everything you need to know about getting those boots on the ground: release times, preload details, Early Access launch, and more.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 global release times:
As I said above, Modern Warfare 4 officially comes out on October 23, but what time you’ll get access depends on whether you have Early Access and what platform you plan to play on.
Modern Warfare 4 players on PC will be able to jump on at midnight local time on the morning of October 23. Wherever you’re based, the game will unlock at midnight. If it doesn’t trigger straight away, fully close and exit Steam — a relaunch should trigger it.
- Los Angeles: 12am PDT
- Mexico City: 12am CST
- Bogota: 12am COT
- New York: 12am EDT
- Brasilia: 12am BRT
- Accra: 12am GMT
- London: 12am BST
- Warsaw: 12am CEST
- Cape Town: 12am SAST
- Kyiv: 12am EEST
- Beijing: 12am CST
- Seoul: 12am KST
- Tokyo: 12am JST
- Melbourne: 12am AEST
- Auckland: 12am NZDT
When does Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Campaign Early Access start?
Campaign Early Access for Modern Warfare 4 begins on October 16, 2026, for players who digitally preorder the Standard Digital Edition or Vault Edition of the game. For people who bought physical, there’s no Early Access for preorders of the Standard Edition.
When does Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 DMZ Access start?
Additionally, players who preordered will get Early Access to DMZ mode, which kicks off on October 20.
Here’s a look at the Modern Warfare 4 editions:
- Digital Standard Edition: Campaign Early Access: Yes.Includes full game and digital pre-order bonuses. Can upgrade to the Vault Edition. Price: $69.99.
- Digital Vault Edition: Campaign Early Access: Yes. Includes full game, both Operator Packs, Signature Weapon Collection, one season of BlackCell and the DMZ Deployment Bonus. Price: $99.99.
- Physical Standard Edition: Early Access: Not included.Includes full base game. Cannot upgrade to the Vault Edition. Price: $69.99.
- Campaign Early Access: Yes.
- Includes full game and digital pre-order bonuses.
- Can upgrade to the Vault Edition.
- Price: $69.99.
- Campaign Early Access: Yes.
- Includes full game, both Operator Packs, Signature Weapon Collection, one season of BlackCell and the DMZ Deployment Bonus.
- Price: $99.99.
- Early Access: Not included.
- Includes full base game.
- Cannot upgrade to the Vault Edition.
- Price: $69.99.
What are Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4’s preload date and times?
Preload for Modern Warfare 4 will begin rolling out on October 14 at 9pm PT. Here’s how that looks for other regions:
- Los Angeles: 9pm PDT
- Mexico City: 10pm CST
- Bogota: 11pm COT
- New York: 12am EDT
- Brasilia: 1am BRT
- Accra: 4am GMT
- London: 5am BST
- Warsaw: 6am CEST
- Cape Town: 6am SAST
- Kyiv: 7am EEST
- Beijing: 12pm CST
- Seoul: 1pm KST
- Tokyo: 1pm JST
- Melbourne: 2pm AEST
- Auckland: 5pm NZDT
During setup, you can choose which content to download, including whether to install Warzone alongside Modern Warfare 4. The new version of Warzone will not be available until the launch of Season 1.
Xbox players should be able to circumvent regional restrictions with the New Zealand trick, where they change their in-game timezone to New Zealand in the settings, tricking their console into letting them pre-install and play early.
How much space will you need for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4?
According to the official Modern Warfare 4 system requirements, the game will need 115GB of available SSD space on PC. Console versions may vary — and it’ll depend what content you decide to download — but they’ll likely be somewhat similar.
Modern Warfare 4 minimum PC requirements:
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 1400 / Intel: Intel Core i5-6600
- RAM: 8GB
- GPU: AMD Radeon RX 470 / NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 / 1060 / Intel Arc A580
- Video memory: 3GB
- Storage: SSD with 115GB of available space
Modern Warfare 4 recommended PC requirements (90fps, High Settings):
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 / Intel Core i7-8700
- RAM: 16GB
- GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT / NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti / Intel Arc B580
- Video memory: 8GB
- Storage: SSD with 115GB of available space