Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 officially launches October 23, 2026 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC and Nintendo Switch 2 — but if you have pre-ordered, you can start playing well before that. Activision has confirmed a staggered rollout, and the dates are worth writing down because there are three separate ones.
The Three Dates That Matter
| What | When |
|---|---|
| Preload begins | October 15 |
| Campaign early access | October 16 |
| DMZ early access (pre-orders) | October 20 |
| Full game launch | October 23 |
The preload window opened today, which means the download can be finished and waiting before anything unlocks. Worth doing early — Call of Duty installs are not small, and day-one patches have a habit of adding another chunk.
Campaign First
The campaign unlocks October 16, a full week before the full release, for players with early access. That is a genuinely useful head start: you can play the story, then roll straight into multiplayer on launch day without having left the single-player sitting unfinished.
Activision also confirmed the Collateral mode as part of the package, alongside the PC spec details published in late September. The PC version arrives through Xbox on PC, Battle.net and Steam.
DMZ Comes Next
DMZ opens to pre-order players from October 20, three days ahead of full launch. If extraction-style modes are your thing, that is the window to learn the map before the general population arrives.
Global Unlock Times
Activision has published global release times rather than a single moment. In practice that means the game goes live simultaneously worldwide on a set hour, rather than rolling region by region — so check your local equivalent rather than assuming midnight in your timezone.
Platforms and Editions
- PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC (Battle.net, Steam, Xbox on PC), Nintendo Switch 2
- Vault Edition sits above Standard and includes the usual bundle of extras
The Switch 2 version is notable on its own. Call of Duty on a Nintendo platform at launch is still unusual enough to be worth flagging, and it arrives the same day as everything else.
What to Do Today
Three things, in order:
- Start the preload now — it opened October 15 and the file is large
- Clear the disk space — check your platform’s requirement before you hit download
- Decide whether the campaign or DMZ matters more — they unlock on different days, so plan around whichever you care about
Full launch details for everything else this season are in our fall 2026 release calendar.
Preload on the 15th, campaign on the 16th, DMZ on the 20th. Finally a breakdown that just lists the dates instead of a wall of text.
Worth noting the unlock times are regional. I got burned by that last year and sat staring at a locked menu for two hours.