Modern Warfare 4's Open Beta Weekend Two Starts August 28
Infinity Ward closed out Call of Duty: NEXT with the first hands-on look at Modern Warfare 4. Early Access opened Friday; the free weekend follows next week, seven weeks ahead of launch.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4's Early Access beta went live Friday following Call of Duty: NEXT, Activision's pre-launch showcase for the game. Infinity Ward is developing the sequel, out October 23 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC through Battle.net, the Xbox app and Steam, and Nintendo Switch 2 — the series' first appearance on a Nintendo console in over a decade.
Image via Activision / Call of Duty
North Korea launches a full invasion of the South, and the campaign follows a young South Korean squad trying to hold a collapsing front line. Captain Price runs a separate, unauthorized operation in the background, and the two threads collide as the war spreads. Missions carry players through Korea, New York, Paris, and Mumbai.
Image via Activision / Call of Duty
No line holds forever. Modern Warfare 4 releases on October 23, 2026.
— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) May 28, 2026
Early Access runs through Tuesday, August 25, and requires a pre-order or beta code. It includes six 6v6 maps and, a first for a Call of Duty beta, a full campaign mission called "Entrenched." Open Beta follows August 28 through September 1, free to everyone, adding Ground War: Combat Outpost and a Warzone Resurgence test on a new map called Zodiac.
Infinity Ward pulled hipfire bloom out entirely, so hipfire accuracy now tracks directly with aim rather than a randomized cone. Movement gets several additions — mantle-to-slide chains, ledge shimmying, pipe climbing — built to keep momentum through a fight rather than stopping it. Twelve 6v6 maps ship at launch. Two new modes, Hijack and Inflation, join the rotation, and Kill Block brings back Gunfight on a reconfigurable set of modular sections with more than 500 possible layouts.
Weapon progression also changes. Fully leveling a gun now unlocks an Apex Attachment, which doesn't take up a normal attachment slot and can change how the weapon behaves rather than just adjusting its stats.
Activision published PC specs for the beta on August 19, ahead of Early Access. These figures cover the beta only and may shift by launch.
TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot are mandatory for Ricochet anti-cheat — the beta won't run online without both enabled. Only DirectX 12-capable systems are supported, and Steam players need a phone number linked to their account.
This is the fourth game in the rebooted Modern Warfare line, following 2023's Modern Warfare III. Infinity Ward is leading development with support from ten other studios, including Treyarch, Sledgehammer, and Raven. On PC, Beenox is handling optimization work across Battle.net, the Xbox app, and Steam.