Modern Warfare 4 Campaign Early Access — Start Time, Dates, and How to Play

• MW4 Campaign Early Access starts Friday, October 16, 2026 — a full week before the full game launches on October 23.
• Only digital pre-orders get campaign early access — Standard Digital and Vault Edition. Physical copies are not included.
• The campaign unlock time is 10 AM PDT / 1 PM EDT / 6 PM BST / 10:30 PM IST on October 16.
• You play as Private Park, a young South Korean soldier caught in a North Korean invasion. Captain Price also returns in a major role.
• The campaign has 16 missions and takes roughly 8–9 hours on a standard first playthrough.
• DMZ Early Access opens October 20 for digital pre-orders. Full multiplayer launches for everyone on October 23.
• Preloading is live — clear at least 115 GB on PC before early access begins.

Modern Warfare 4 is releasing in stages, and if you’ve pre-ordered digitally, you don’t have to wait until October 23. The campaign opens a full week early, which means you get to see how this whole Korea conflict plays out while everyone else is still watching countdowns. Here’s exactly what you need to know to jump in the moment it unlocks.

When Does Modern Warfare 4 Campaign Early Access Start?

Campaign Early Access goes live on Friday, October 16, 2026. That’s seven days before the full game launch on October 23. Activision has stuck with this pattern before — MW2 and MW3 both did the same thing — and MW4 keeps it going.

The unlock time is 10 AM Pacific Time globally. Console players on PS5 and Xbox also see the same window rather than a midnight rollover. If you’re preloaded and ready, you can drop straight in.

MW4 Campaign Early Access Start Time by Region

• Los Angeles (PDT): 10:00 AM, October 16
• New York (EDT): 1:00 PM, October 16
• London (BST): 6:00 PM, October 16
• Berlin / Paris (CEST): 7:00 PM, October 16
• Eastern Europe (EEST): 8:00 PM, October 16
• Mumbai (IST): 10:30 PM, October 16
• Tokyo / Seoul (JST/KST): 2:00 AM, October 17
• Sydney (AEDT): 4:00 AM, October 17

India players, you’re getting it at 10:30 PM on the 16th — late night but still the same day. Tokyo and Seoul players technically get it early Saturday morning, but it’s still the same global wave.

How to Get Modern Warfare 4 Campaign Early Access

There’s really only one way in: digitally pre-order or pre-purchase Modern Warfare 4 before the early access window opens on October 16.

It works on:

• PlayStation 5 (PlayStation Store)
• Xbox Series X|S and Xbox on PC (Microsoft Store / Xbox App)
• PC via Steam
• PC via Battle.net
• Nintendo Switch 2

Both the Standard Digital Edition ($69.99) and the Vault Edition ($99.99) include campaign early access. You don’t need to buy the more expensive edition just for early access — Standard gets you in just as fast.

Physical copies do not get campaign early access. If you’re buying a disc, you wait until October 23 like everyone else. There’s no workaround for this.

No early access code is required either. If you’ve digitally pre-ordered, the campaign just unlocks for you automatically at 10 AM PDT on the 16th.

Not sure which edition to get? Check out our full breakdown of the COD Modern Warfare 4 Vault Edition rewards and pre-order bonuses to compare what each edition includes before you buy.

How to Preload Modern Warfare 4 for Campaign Early Access

Don’t wait until October 16 to start downloading. The preload went live ahead of campaign early access, and you should get it done beforehand so you’re not sitting there watching a progress bar while the early access window ticks away.

Preload Dates

• Campaign preload opened: October 14
• DMZ preload: October 18
• Full game preload: October 21

On PC specifically, the preload went live on October 15 at 9 AM PT. If you’re on Steam, Battle.net, or the Xbox App on PC, you can start the download from your library or the store page.

MW4 Download Size by Platform

The download size varies quite a bit depending on platform and what content packs you select. Here are the rough estimates:

• PC (Steam/Battle.net): 115–124 GB for Campaign + Multiplayer. Campaign-only installs are smaller.
• PS5: Around 117 GB for the full package (excluding some DMZ packs).
• Xbox Series X|S: Up to 194 GB for a full install — the biggest of any platform.
• Nintendo Switch 2: 77–85 GB, significantly lighter than console counterparts.

MW4 lets you choose which content packs to install — Campaign, Multiplayer, DMZ, and Warzone are separate. For campaign early access only, you just need roughly 107 GB on PS5 and PC (the CoD HQ base + Campaign pack). You don’t need to download Multiplayer or DMZ upfront if you’re just starting the story.

PC requires at least 115 GB of SSD storage, along with DirectX 12, TPM 2.0, and Secure Boot enabled. If you haven’t checked your PC specs recently, do that before the preload.

What Is the MW4 Campaign About?

The Modern Warfare 4 campaign is a big shift from what CoD has been doing recently. Instead of dropping you in as an elite special forces veteran, you start as Private Park — a young South Korean soldier on his first real deployment. And things go sideways fast.

North Korea launches a full-scale invasion of South Korea, turning what was a routine mission into a desperate fight for survival across collapsing cities. Park’s story is built around that “zero to hero” journey — a regular soldier figuring things out under impossible pressure.

At the same time, Captain Price is back, but in a very different role. After the events of Modern Warfare III (2023), Price has gone rogue and is operating outside official channels while hunting Vladimir Makarov. His storyline runs parallel to Park’s, and the two threads eventually collide.

Infinity Ward described this campaign as feeling like making a World War II game in terms of scale and tone — large set pieces, trench warfare, tanks, drones, city-wide battles. The studio wanted to get back to big war storytelling after years of tighter, operator-focused missions.

MW4 Campaign Locations

The war doesn’t stay in Korea. The campaign takes you across multiple international locations:

• Korean Peninsula — The main theater. Trench warfare, occupied cities, counteroffensives.
• New York — Close-quarters urban combat.
• Paris — High-octane chases through the city.
• Mumbai — SAS night raids.

The variety is intentional. Infinity Ward built the campaign around switching up the type of action you’re in — large infantry battles one mission, tight covert ops the next.

How Long Is the Modern Warfare 4 Campaign?

The MW4 campaign has 16 missions. For a standard first playthrough on normal difficulty, most players are finishing in around 8–9 hours. If you rush through on Recruit difficulty, expect 7–8 hours. A full completionist run chasing all 18 campaign trophies could push 14–18 hours across multiple playthroughs.

That makes it one of the longer recent CoD campaigns, which have usually landed in the five-to-six-hour range. The scale of the Korea conflict clearly gave Infinity Ward more story to tell.

A few things worth knowing before you start:

• No co-op. The MW4 campaign is single-player only. You fight alongside AI squadmates in most missions, but there’s no split-screen or online co-op.
• Realism difficulty is locked until you finish the campaign once. If you want that trophy, plan for at least two runs.
• Multiplayer is not available during early access. From October 16 to October 22, the campaign and nothing else. Multiplayer unlocks with the full game on October 23.

Modern Warfare 4 Full Launch Schedule — Everything That Unlocks When

MW4 isn’t dropping everything at once. Here’s the full release schedule so you know what’s coming and when:

• October 14: Campaign preload opens.
• October 16 at 10 AM PDT: Campaign Early Access begins for digital pre-orders.
• October 18: DMZ preload opens.
• October 20 at 10 AM PDT: DMZ Early Access begins for digital pre-orders.
• October 21: Full game preload opens for all buyers.
• October 23 at midnight local time: Full game launches globally — Multiplayer, full DMZ, and everything else opens for all players.

The campaign and DMZ early access windows are for digital pre-orders only. The October 23 full launch is for everyone, including physical copy buyers.

MW4 Campaign Early Access — Platform-Specific Notes

PlayStation 5

PS5 players can preload from the PlayStation Store. Head to the MW4 store page, and if you’ve pre-ordered, you’ll see the download option available. The game uses the DualSense’s haptic feedback and adaptive triggers during the campaign — worth keeping that enabled for the full experience.

Xbox Series X|S

Xbox is an Xbox Play Anywhere title, meaning one digital purchase covers both Xbox console and Xbox on PC. You don’t need to buy it twice. Pre-orders on Xbox also came with a $5 Xbox digital credit and the exclusive translucent OG Green Inner Circuit M4 Blueprint as additional bonuses. Note that MW4 is not on Xbox Game Pass — you need to buy it outright.

PC (Steam and Battle.net)

PC players have two launcher options — Steam or Battle.net. Both work for early access. Steam players get the mil-spec Inner Circuit M4 Blueprint at launch. Preload on PC went live October 15 at 9 AM PT. Make sure you have at least 115 GB of SSD space free (not HDD — the game requires SSD) and that your system supports DirectX 12 with TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot enabled.

Nintendo Switch 2

Switch 2 players are also included in campaign early access, provided they’ve pre-ordered digitally. The Switch 2 version is smaller at around 77–85 GB. Physical Switch 2 copies come as code-in-the-box rather than a disc, so they’re essentially digital anyway — but they still don’t get the Hunter Killer Operator Skin that comes with a direct digital pre-order.

Tips for Playing the MW4 Campaign During Early Access

A few things that’ll make your early access week smoother:

• Preload before October 16. Obvious but worth repeating — don’t start your download on the day early access opens. The servers will be busy and you’ll lose hours waiting.
• Use early access week for the campaign, not prep. Multiplayer and ranked don’t open until October 23. There’s literally nothing else to do in MW4 this week. Take your time with the story.
• Consider a higher difficulty on your first run. Realism is locked until you finish once, but Veteran is open from the start. If you want a challenge, this is the week for it — before multiplayer starts competing for your evenings.
• Don’t skip cutscenes. The MW4 story is more plot-heavy than recent entries. Private Park’s arc and Price’s rogue operation both need context to land properly.
• Complete the campaign before October 23 if you can. Once multiplayer opens, the campaign is going to fall off your priority list fast.

You can grab the game directly from the Steam Store, the PlayStation Store, or the Xbox Store.

Frequently Asked Questions — MW4 Campaign Early Access