The first playable slice of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 arrives right after the Call of Duty: NEXT showcase, and the early access beta is locked to players who pre-ordered the game. Preloads for the first weekend are already up, so the only thing left is the clock.
Quick answer: The Modern Warfare 4 early access beta goes live on August 21, 2026 at 11AM PT / 2PM ET (6PM UTC) and runs until August 25 on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
Release time: August 21, 2026 at 11:00AM PDT / 2:00PM EDT / 6:00PM UTC
Modern Warfare 4 beta status: Confirmed
Activision has confirmed both beta weekends, and neither one is a placeholder window. Weekend one is the early access period, from August 21 through August 25. Weekend two is the open beta, running August 28 through September 1 with no purchase required.
Nintendo Switch 2 is the one exception in weekend one. That version does not take part in early access, and its pre-orders open on August 26, just before Switch 2 players join the open beta.
Modern Warfare 4 beta start times by region
The early access beta opens an hour later in the day than the open beta does, so the two weekends do not share the same local unlock time. Anything east of Europe rolls over into the following morning.
| Region | Early access (Aug 21) | Open beta (Aug 28) |
|---|---|---|
| US West | 11:00AM PDT | 10:00AM PDT |
| US East | 2:00PM EDT | 1:00PM EDT |
| Brazil | 3:00PM BRT | 2:00PM BRT |
| UK | 7:00PM BST | 6:00PM BST |
| Germany and France | 8:00PM CEST | 7:00PM CEST |
| South Africa | 8:00PM SAST | 7:00PM SAST |
| Turkey | 9:00PM TRT | 8:00PM TRT |
| Russia | 9:00PM MSK | 8:00PM MSK |
| UAE | 10:00PM GST | 9:00PM GST |
| India | 11:30PM IST | 10:30PM IST |
| Singapore | 2:00AM SGT (Aug 22) | 1:00AM SGT (Aug 29) |
| Philippines | 2:00AM (Aug 22) | 1:00AM (Aug 29) |
| China | 2:00AM CST (Aug 22) | 1:00AM CST (Aug 29) |
| South Korea | 3:00AM KST (Aug 22) | 2:00AM KST (Aug 29) |
| Japan | 3:00AM JST (Aug 22) | 2:00AM JST (Aug 29) |
| Australia | 4:00AM AEST (Aug 22) | 3:00AM AEST (Aug 29) |
| New Zealand | 6:00AM NZST (Aug 22) | 5:00AM NZST (Aug 29) |
How to get access to the early access beta
Tip: If you would rather not spend anything, the August 28 open beta needs no code and no pre-order on any platform, including Switch 2.
What you can play during the beta weekends
The beta is built around multiplayer. Up to 19 weapons are unlockable across the test, spread over smaller-scale modes and the bigger fights the Modern Warfare reboot is known for. Search & Destroy is confirmed, along with Kill Block, the reshaping arena that generates a different layout between rounds, and a Training Mobility Course for feeling out the reworked movement.
Gunny, the automatic class builder that assembles close, mid, or long-range loadouts from what you have unlocked, is also in. A wide set of new operators is playable, with some reserved for Vault Edition buyers, including Price, Valeria, Ghost, Blix, and the national special forces skins for the UK, Germany, France, and South Korea.
The DMZ extraction mode is not part of either weekend. Beta levels and unlocks do not carry into the full game either, though playing does earn cosmetic rewards that unlock at launch.
Once the second weekend closes on September 1, the servers go quiet until launch. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 releases on October 23, 2026 on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam and Battle.net, with the Switch 2 version arriving later and no Game Pass day-one inclusion.
