Modern Warfare 4 Is Live Worldwide: Infinity Ward Opened the Doors Early

Launch night came a little ahead of schedule. At 00:30 UTC on October 23 (7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT on October 22), Infinity Ward posted on X: "We're opening things up early. #MW4 is LIVE worldwide!" Six minutes later the official Call of Duty account followed up, saying Infinity Ward "got the action started early, and MW4 is now live globally." HardcoreSND logged both posts and their timestamps. Multiplayer, the last piece of the staggered rollout, is open to everyone who owns the game.

The access ladder is complete

MW4 reached players in three steps, and today's unlock finishes the climb:

• October 16 — Campaign Early Access for digital pre-orders (Call of Duty blog). Our Campaign Early Access guide has the details.
• October 20 — DMZ Early Access, same digital pre-order gate (Call of Duty blog); see our DMZ Early Access breakdown.
• October 23 — Full game, including Multiplayer, on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC and Nintendo Switch 2. There is no PS4 or Xbox One version (announcement blog).

One thing hasn't changed: MW4 is a standalone purchase. Activision confirmed it won't be included with Game Pass until Holiday 2027. We covered that in MW4 won't hit Game Pass until Holiday 2027.

What's in the game right now

According to Infinity Ward's launch patch notes, day one includes:

• 20 Multiplayer maps: 12 core 6v6 maps, three 32v32 Ground War maps (Imjin Farmland, Wolves Stadium, Forest), four Gunfight maps (Cafe, Library, NYC, Smuggler) and the dynamic Kill Block map, which supports 3v3 and 10v10 Gunfight at launch.
• Over a dozen modes, including the new Inflation, Hijack, Collateral and Ground War: Combat Outpost, plus Hardcore and the usual classics like Search & Destroy and Hardpoint.
• 33 weapons and 33 Operators, with progression to Level 55 and beyond and two Prestige paths.
• Create-a-Class unlocks at Player Level 4. Default loadouts cover you until then.

The balance changes (SMG buffs, Tac Sprint moved to Blood Rush, UAVs up to 150 HP) are in our launch patch notes breakdown.

What to do first

• Reach Level 4 fast to unlock Create-a-Class (patch notes). A few matches of Team Deathmatch or Domination will get you there.
• Start the camo grind in any mode. Camo progress is shared across Multiplayer and DMZ, and Warzone joins once Season 1 starts. Special Camo challenges finished in one mode unlock everywhere (patch notes). Our Prestige and camo guide explains the Classic vs Regular choice.
• Expect some launch bumps. Insider Gaming, reading Infinity Ward's known-issues board, reports that matchmaking quality and stability on all platforms are on the list of things the studio is working on.

What's next

Infinity Ward's official roadmap sets the next dates (full details in our roadmap breakdown):

• October 27: Shipment returns
• October 29: Possession, a new mode
• October 30: Infected
• November 6: Season 1 for both MW4 and Warzone

Warzone players should note that the new MW4-integrated version of Warzone isn't live yet. Activision says Warzone integrates MW4 content and progression beginning in Season 1, and a Call of Duty Updates note quoted in the launch patch notes says the new Warzone won't be available until then. Dexerto also lists the integration for the November 6 Season 1 update. Until November 6, the current version of Warzone is the one you'll be playing.