Modern Warfare 4 Launch Week: Campaign Is Live, DMZ Unlocks October 20

The wait is almost over. Modern Warfare 4 launches on October 23, but the early access window opened this week, and the order in which things unlock is more awkward than a single release date suggests. The campaign came first, on Friday, October 16. DMZ follows on Tuesday, October 20, and the full game, including multiplayer, arrives three days after that.

We put this together because the schedule is split across several blog posts, and the question we keep seeing is simple: what do I actually need to do before launch day?

Who gets in early, and who does not

Early access is tied to how you bought the game, not which console you own. Activision says it applies to digital pre-orders and pre-purchases of the Standard Digital Edition or the Vault Edition, on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, PlayStation 5, Battle.net, Steam and Nintendo Switch 2. If you reserved a physical disc, the official post does not list you for the campaign or DMZ head start, though physical buyers were promised a beta code earlier this year, which is a different perk.

That matters if you are still deciding. Buying digitally today still gets you into the campaign right away and DMZ on October 20, so you are not locked out just because you waited. Our reading is that this is the clearest incentive Activision has built into the pre-order, and it is a stronger one than the usual cosmetic bonus.

Two limits are worth knowing. The game is not coming to Xbox One or PlayStation 4, and Activision's pre-order guide says it will not be on Game Pass at launch. Anyone on an older console, or waiting for a subscription drop, has nothing to unlock early.

Video: Call of Duty on YouTube

What to install before the weekend

Storage is the real hurdle. Reported figures put the base install at roughly 115 GB on PC and about 117 GB on PS5, and that is before Warzone and before the day-one patches the publisher warns about. The campaign is the largest single pack, while the first DMZ pack is far smaller, so you can choose what to keep. If you only want the extraction mode this week, you do not need to carry the whole campaign on your drive.

PC preload opened on Thursday, October 15. Console preload timing was not clearly confirmed in what we could verify, so check your platform store rather than trusting a rumored time. On Xbox the reported install is noticeably heavier than on other systems, so make room early.

For DMZ itself, the official guide describes a home base called the Forward Operating Base, where you gear up, craft at a 3D printer, take orders and pick up bounties between runs. We covered how that works in our DMZ breakdown of the Hajin map, and the campaign details are in our first look at the story. One practical note from the guide: some FOB stations unlock as you play, so day one will feel narrower than the full base.

Our take

The staggered schedule is clever and a little annoying. It rewards digital pre-orders, it spreads server load over a week, and it gives DMZ players a head start on a mode that depends on a healthy population. The cost is that anyone buying late, or on disc, starts behind squads who have already learned the map.

Our advice is plain. If you want DMZ, buy digitally before October 20 and install the DMZ pack only. If you mostly want multiplayer, there is no rush, because nothing in multiplayer unlocks early. Wait for launch reviews and the first patch before you commit to the largest download. As always, treat times as approximate: Activision itself says availability and start dates can change.