Modern Warfare 4’s Early Access Beta starts Friday, August 21 at 11:00am PT (2:00pm ET), right after Call of Duty NEXT signs off. First time they have stacked the showcase and the servers like that. Infinity Ward is not giving the broadcast a cooling-off weekend. You watch the broadcast, then you load in. Pre-order required for that first window, on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. It runs through Tuesday, August 25 at 10:00am PT (1:00pm ET).
That is the official clock on callofduty.com/modernwarfare4/beta. I opened the page. The hours are not a rumor graphic.
Friday Is NEXT, Then the Server
Call of Duty NEXT is August 21. The beta is timed to the end of that show on purpose. Activision is calling it a first, and it reads like a dare: if the multiplayer briefing is good, prove it before the timeline fills with recap threads. If it is not, you will hear about it while the playlist is still up. Either way, the gap between trailer and thumbstick just got shorter.
Weekend two is the Open Beta, and that one is the bigger door. Friday, August 28 at 10:00am PT (1:00pm ET) through Tuesday, September 1 at 10:00am PT (1:00pm ET). Everyone gets in, including Switch 2. No pre-order required. Switch 2 pre-orders themselves begin August 26, so Nintendo’s machine gets a store listing in the middle of the test and a free weekend two days later. That is a cleaner on-ramp than making a new platform buy a box to try the mode.
$69.99, $99.99, and a 10 Percent Nudge
Launch is Friday, October 23, 2026, on Xbox Series, PlayStation 5, PC through Battle.net, Xbox on PC, and Steam, plus Switch 2. Standard is $69.99. Vault is $99.99. The Vault upgrade is $30 if you already grabbed Standard and then get greedy, which a lot of people will after a good beta weekend. Loyalty knocks 10 percent off Vault if you owned a Call of Duty from 2019 onward. Free-to-play and mobile titles do not count, so Warzone hours are not a coupon.
Infinity Ward is the studio on the box. That matters more than the edition ladder. This is their Modern Warfare again, not a handoff season with a familiar logo. The beta is the Multiplayer handshake. Campaign talk can wait until somebody is actually playing missions.
What You Need Friday Morning
If you pre-ordered on PC, PS5, or Xbox Series, Friday at 11:00am PT (2:00pm ET) is your first live look. If you did not, you wait for August 28 or you spend the money. That is the whole decision tree. The Open Beta is the one I would point a skeptical friend at, because it includes Switch 2 and it does not ask for a receipt.
Official social is @CallofDuty and the official Call of Duty YouTube channel. The Vault Edition trailer above is from that YouTube account, not a recap channel with a loud intro. Times, platforms, and prices are on the official beta page and the Modern Warfare 4 hub. Anything else circulating this week is someone else’s overlay.
October 23 is still the launch date. Friday is the first time the servers have to survive the show. That is the sequence, and it is tighter than usual on purpose.