Modern Warfare 4 Early Access is live. The servers opened Friday, August 21 at 11:00am PT (2:00pm ET), right after Call of Duty NEXT, and they stay up through Tuesday, August 25 at 10:00am PT (1:00pm ET). Pre-order, pre-purchase, or a beta code gets you in on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, PlayStation 5, Steam, and Battle.net. I opened the official beta page again this morning. The hours did not move.

This is not the starts-Friday preview. Weekend one is already in progress. If you pre-ordered digitally on those stores, you do not redeem a code. You download and play. Retail codes still go through callofduty.com/betaredeem.

Tuesday Morning, Then the Open Door

Early Access ends Tuesday at 10:00am PT. Then there is a gap. The Open Beta is the bigger door, and it does not ask for a receipt. Friday, August 28 at 10:00am PT (1:00pm ET) through Tuesday, September 1 at 10:00am PT (1:00pm ET), on every platform including Nintendo 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 week and a free weekend two days later.

You can preload the Open Beta starting Wednesday, August 26 at 9:00am PT (12:00pm ET) on all platforms. That is the line on the official FAQ. Early Access had its own preload on August 20. If you are waiting for weekend two, Wednesday morning is when the client can sit on the drive so you are not watching a bar on Friday.

October 23 Is Still the Launch

Infinity Ward is on the box. Launch is Friday, October 23, 2026. The official beta page still frames this test as feedback for day one, which is publisher language for please find the broken bits before we charge for them. Campaign talk can wait. Weekend one is the Multiplayer handshake, and it is already happening.

If you are in, you have until Tuesday morning. If you are not, August 28 is the one I would point a skeptical friend at, because Switch 2 is on that list and nobody has to show a receipt. Official social is @CallofDuty and the official Call of Duty YouTube. The Weekend One First Look above is from that channel. Times and platforms are on callofduty.com/modernwarfare4/beta. I checked. I did not invent a window to make the headline tidier.