Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is going to return to an early access campaign for players who are particularly eager to see how the story continues. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is set to launch on October 23, and it’s already known the game will have all the amenities the players have come to expect out of the COD sub-franchise, like the classic PvP multiplayer mode, and a substantially upgraded PvPvE DMZ.
The contemporary COD titles now have a very well-established pre-release setup, to the point that almost anyone familiar with any of the prior recent Call of Duty games knows what goodies to expect out of this one, too. Modern Warfare 4‘s pre-order features are centered around the special Vault Edition, which comes pre-loaded with extra weapon blueprints, Operator skins, and other assorted goodies at a substantial price premium. For those looking to just play the single-player portion of the game, however, these will largely be irrelevant.
Call of Duty 2026 Reportedly Coming to a Surprising Platform
The Call of Duty franchise’s major 2026 release may see a full launch on an unexpected platform, according to recent leaks about the game.
Modern Warfare 4’s Campaign Mode is Playable Early For Most Players
Campaign early access is one of the things that is decidedly not changing in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, compared to the last couple of Call of Duty titles. The campaign is going to be available a fair bit sooner than the rest of the game’s content, due to launch on October 16 as opposed to the full title’s October 23 release. Crucially, players need to have pre-ordered the Standard Digital or Vault Edition to gain access to the campaign early, with multiplayer modes like Modern Warfare 4‘s upgraded DMZ coming as part of the regular launch-day package.
Scratch & Peek
Identify the cover art while scratching off as little foil as
possible.
Identify the cover art while scratching off as little foil as possible.
EasyMediumHardPermadeath
There’s a point to be made that the Korea-focused single-player campaign is Modern Warfare 4‘s most exciting feature to begin with, making campaign early access a particularly interesting deal. This will be the first time that a mainline COD game has tackled the subject, and while it’s obviously going to be veiled in the superhero-adjacent vibes the franchise is known for, it should make for an exciting change of pace regardless.
The South and North Korean conflict also makes for a solid excuse to build out a brand new PvPvE mode. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4‘s DMZ promises to deliver a whole game-within-a-game with free-roam and spec-ops style missions alongside full-fledged story missions to partake in. As COD campaigns are usually rather short, DMZ may well be the next best option for those who just aren’t keen on the usual run ‘n’ gun shenanigans players expect out of the regular PvP multiplayer modes.
Guess the games from the emojis.
Guess the games from the emojis.
Easy (120s)Medium (90s)Hard (60s)
In fact, one might argue that the upgraded DMZ is actually a second chance for a sandbox-focused Modern Warfare 3-style side-campaign. Modern Warfare 3‘s campaign wasn’t great specifically because it used Modern Warfare 2‘s DMZ to build out a campaign mode with very few bespoke, set piece heavy missions outside the open-world sandbox. As Modern Warfare 4 has a full-featured set piece campaign by default, this may be an easy way to pad the game out more for those who want co-op and long-term progression.
- Released
-
October 23, 2026
- Multiplayer
-
Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op
