Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 has been partly playable for days. Campaign early access has run since October 16, and DMZ joined it on October 20. Multiplayer is still locked for everyone, including people who preordered. It opens with the full game on Friday, October 23.
Quick answer: Modern Warfare 4 multiplayer unlocks on October 23 at 12 AM ET in North America, which is 9 PM PT on October 22. Most other regions get it at 12 AM local time on October 23.
Release time: Friday, October 23, 2026, at 12 AM ET (9 PM PT on Thursday, October 22)
Modern Warfare 4 release status
- Status: Confirmed
- Full release: Friday, October 23, 2026
- North America: 12 AM ET / 9 PM PT (October 22)
- Rest of the world: 12 AM local time, October 23
- Platforms include PC, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
This is the first time the game launches on PC and console at the same time. You won’t see a separate, later unlock for Battle.net or Steam. Pre-downloads are already live, so you can install the full game now and be ready when the clock runs out. Infinity Ward developed the game and Activision publishes it. You can buy it on the PlayStation Store, the Xbox Store, Steam, and Battle.net.
Modern Warfare 4 won’t be on Game Pass at launch. Activision has set a Holiday 2027 window for the subscription, with no exact date. To play multiplayer on October 23, you need to buy the game.
Modern Warfare 4 multiplayer start times by region
Outside North America, the game unlocks at midnight local time, so it rolls across the globe over about a day. The table runs in the order regions unlock. The last column shows the same moment in Eastern Time, so you can line up a session with friends overseas.
| City | Local release time | Same moment in ET |
|---|---|---|
| Wellington, New Zealand | 12 AM NZDT, Oct 23 | 7 AM, Oct 22 |
| Sydney, Australia | 12 AM AEDT, Oct 23 | 9 AM, Oct 22 |
| Tokyo, Japan | 12 AM JST, Oct 23 | 11 AM, Oct 22 |
| Seoul, South Korea | 12 AM KST, Oct 23 | 11 AM, Oct 22 |
| Dubai, UAE | 12 AM GST, Oct 23 | 4 PM, Oct 22 |
| Johannesburg, South Africa | 12 AM SAST, Oct 23 | 6 PM, Oct 22 |
| Paris, France | 12 AM CEST, Oct 23 | 6 PM, Oct 22 |
| Stockholm, Sweden | 12 AM CEST, Oct 23 | 6 PM, Oct 22 |
| London, UK | 12 AM BST, Oct 23 | 7 PM, Oct 22 |
| Los Angeles, US | 9 PM PT, Oct 22 | 12 AM, Oct 23 |
| Mexico City, Mexico | 10 PM CST, Oct 22 | 12 AM, Oct 23 |
| New York, US | 12 AM ET, Oct 23 | 12 AM, Oct 23 |
| São Paulo, Brazil | 12 AM BRT, Oct 23 | 11 PM, Oct 22 |
Mexico City and the US West Coast don’t wait for their own midnight. They unlock at the same moment as New York. In São Paulo, local midnight arrives an hour before the North American unlock.
Some regional schedules list one simultaneous global unlock instead of a midnight-by-midnight rollout. If your platform’s store page shows a different time for your region, go with the store.
What you can play before October 23
The two early access waves have already started. Both require a digital preorder or prepurchase of any edition, and the Standard Edition qualifies. A physical preorder doesn’t, and neither does Game Pass.
| Mode | Opened | Who can play |
|---|---|---|
| Campaign | October 16 | Digital preorders |
| DMZ | October 20, 1 PM ET | Digital preorders |
| Multiplayer | October 23 | Everyone who owns the game |
Neither early access window unlocks standard multiplayer. Finishing the campaign won’t raise your multiplayer rank or weapon levels either, so every player starts multiplayer progression from zero at launch. Progress you make in DMZ during early access stays on your account after the full release.
Playing Modern Warfare 4 multiplayer early with the New Zealand trick
New Zealand reaches midnight first. If you set your account to that region, the full game can open for you as early as 7 AM ET on October 22. That’s 17 hours before the North American unlock.
You need to change two settings. First, set the region on your Activision account to New Zealand. Then set your console or PC’s regional settings to New Zealand as well. If it worked, you’ll be able to launch the full game and open multiplayer once midnight NZDT passes, while players in your home region are still locked out.
The trick has a track record on consoles and on Xbox for PC. It hasn’t been proven on Battle.net or Steam. The PC version uses the same midnight local unlock this year, so it may work there too, but don’t count on it.
What goes live in Modern Warfare 4 multiplayer at launch
The full release opens everything that was held back during early access:
- 12 core 6v6 maps
- Gunfight, with its own map pool
- Big War, played on large-scale maps
- Kill Block, a map that changes layout during a match, with more than 500 possible configurations
- Ranked play and the full multiplayer progression system
- DMZ access for players who didn’t preorder digitally
Gunplay also changes. Hipfire bloom is gone, so shots fired from the hip no longer lose accuracy as you keep firing. Movement now lets you hang from ledges and pipes and shimmy along them. If you’ve only played the campaign, those changes carry into multiplayer when it unlocks at midnight on the 23rd.
