Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Release Time: When It Unlocks in Your Time Zone

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 unlocks worldwide on Friday, October 23, 2026 at midnight in your local time zone on PC, per Activision’s confirmation cited by IGN. The full game covers PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2. Preload begins October 14 at 9 PM PT and rolls out by time zone. Campaign Early Access opens October 16 for anyone who pre-ordered a digital edition, and DMZ Early Access opens October 20 for the same group.

This guide is the single source for every unlock window, the preload schedule, and what to expect on Switch 2. For which edition to pick, see our Modern Warfare 4 Editions Compared guide.

Preload: October 14, 2026 at 9 PM PT

Activision confirmed preload starts at 9 PM Pacific on October 14 and rolls westward to each region’s local time. Console and PC players will see the preload option appear in their platform store at the corresponding moment below. (“Rolls westward” here means the time stamp arrives at the same instant of UTC time, but each region’s table reads in local clock time.)

The PC preload through Steam, Battle.net and Xbox on PC lets you pick which components to install, including the new Warzone. The new Warzone ships as part of the MW4 package but won’t be playable until Season 1. During setup, choose to install only the MW4 client if you want to save 115 GB of SSD space and skip Warzone for now.

Campaign Early Access: October 16, 2026

Anyone who digitally pre-ordered the Digital Standard or Digital Vault edition can play the single-player story one week early, starting Friday, October 16. Activision has not published a single global clock time for the Early Access unlock; the standard Call of Duty pattern (and what we saw with the open Beta) is midnight local time on each platform’s store. Physical Standard copies do not include Campaign Early Access, per Activision’s preorder guide.

DMZ Early Access: October 20, 2026

DMZ is Modern Warfare 4’s extraction mode: a Hajin Exclusion Zone map where you loot, complete missions and try to extract before being killed. DMZ unlocks Tuesday, October 20 for anyone who pre-ordered any digital edition, also at midnight local time on each platform. The DMZ content is the same as on October 23, just available earlier. The launch Hajin map, deployment loop, and Forward Operating Base systems are covered in our DMZ Beginner’s Guide.

Full game launch: October 23, 2026 at midnight local time

The full game unlocks Friday, October 23 at midnight in your local time zone on PC, per Activision. On consoles (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2), the standard Call of Duty pattern is the same: each region’s store unlocks at midnight local. If the game doesn’t trigger straight away on Steam, fully close and exit the client and relaunch. The new Warzone is not available until Season 1, so even on launch night you’ll only be able to play MW4 Multiplayer, the Campaign, and DMZ.

Editions recap

For the full breakdown of what’s in each Vault tier and whether the $30 upgrade is worth it, see our Modern Warfare 4 Editions Compared guide. For the pre-order bonuses (Hunter Killer Operator Skin, Gilded Pearl Camo Pack, Inner Circuit M4 Blueprint, plus the Open Beta rewards), see our pre-order guide.

Crossplay and progression at launch

MW4 supports crossplay across PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC and Switch 2, with progression tied to your Activision ID rather than a single platform. You need to link your platform accounts to the same Activision ID for cross-progression to follow you, and you still need to own the game on each platform you play on. Console players can opt out of crossplay in the settings. The Switch 2 version supports optional Joy-Con 2 mouse controls, standard gamepad, and handheld play. See our Is Modern Warfare 4 Cross-Platform? guide.

PC specs and storage

Per Activision’s official PC requirements:

• Minimum (30 fps target): AMD Ryzen 5 1400 or Intel Core i5-6600, 8 GB RAM, AMD Radeon RX 470 / NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 or 1060 / Intel Arc A580, 115 GB SSD
• Recommended (90 fps, High Settings): AMD Ryzen 5 3600 or Intel Core i7-8700, 16 GB RAM, AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT / NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti / Intel Arc B580, 115 GB SSD

Full details and a Steam Deck verdict are in our Modern Warfare 4 PC Specs guide.

New Zealand trick on Xbox

If you want to play the moment preload or Early Access drops in your region but can’t wait, Xbox players can change their console’s timezone to New Zealand in Settings to pre-install and unlock early. Activision’s clock is per-timezone, not per-region-account, so the trick works until you reset the console. PS5 doesn’t expose a timezone toggle in the same way, so PS5 players wait for their region’s midnight local.

What you need to do today

1. Pre-load starts tonight at 9 PM PT. If you’re in the US, that’s midnight ET; in the UK, 5 AM BST on October 15; in Japan, 1 PM JST on October 15.
2. Link your Activision ID before launch. Weapon XP, Battle Pass progress, and unlocks follow your Activision ID across platforms.
3. Free up 115 GB of SSD space on PC. On console, the installation size may vary by platform and by what content you choose to download.
4. Decide your edition before launch night. If you want the campaign Early Access, you need the Digital Standard or Digital Vault, not the physical disc.
5. Backup your Switch 2 storage. A current-gen Call of Duty port is a chunk of your microSD card.

Pre-order guide / Editions Compared / PC Specs and Steam Deck / Crossplay Explained / DMZ Beginner’s Guide / Multiplayer Beginner’s Guide / Modern Warfare 4 hub / Release Calendar

Our read: the staggered rollout means anyone who pre-ordered digitally gets three separate launch moments (Campaign on October 16, DMZ on October 20, the full game on October 23), while physical buyers get one on October 23. The 9 PM PT preload tonight (Oct 14) gives players ~8 days to download before the first Early Access window opens, which is enough for 115 GB on most connections but not on a slow US rural line. Activision’s per-timezone clock pattern is consistent with Black Ops 7 and Cold War era, so if you played those, the midnight-local pattern is what you’re used to. For Switch 2 specifically, this is the first current-gen CoD on a Nintendo platform since 2013’s Ghosts on Wii U, and Activision has confirmed the same midnight-local pattern on Switch 2. Game Pass players should know MW4 is not on Game Pass on day one; it lands in Holiday 2027 per Xbox’s own communications.

Edited by Kerwin Stewart, Editor-in-Chief · How we report