Activision has set the Modern Warfare 4 Early Access beta to begin Friday, August 21 at 11 am PT / 2 pm ET, immediately after Call Of Duty: NEXT. The first weekend is closed, and players who want in early can use the simplest route: pre-ordering the game.
Call Of Duty: NEXT will be hosted virtually this year, with streamers, content creators, and journalists entering the game at 9 am PT before the beta opens two hours later. The closed beta then runs until Tuesday, August 25 at 10 am PT / 1 pm ET.
Modern Warfare 4 beta platforms
The beta is tied to PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch 2, while Xbox One and PS4 are no longer supported in the main game or Warzone. That means players on the older systems are left out of both the new release path and the live game environment.
Players will not find the beta inside the Call Of Duty app on any platform. They have to search separately for Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 or Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 beta on Steam, Battle.net, or the Xbox and PlayStation stores.
Weekend 2 on Nintendo Switch 2
Weekend 2 opens Friday, August 28 at 10 am PT / 1 pm ET and runs through Tuesday, September 1 at 10 am. Nintendo Switch 2 joins that second weekend, and the beta can be pre-loaded on August 26.
That second window also shifts some of the content lineup: Lotus is replaced by Lithium, and the open beta adds The Zodiac Warzone Resurgence map along with Hijack and Combat Outpost in normal multiplayer. The beta also includes Team Deathmatch, Kill Confirmed, Search & Destroy, Ground War, Inflation, Kill Block, the Mobility Course, and the Campaign mission Entrenched.
For players planning around launch day, the practical choice is straightforward: get the beta code route ready before Friday if Early Access matters, then wait for Wednesday, August 26 if Nintendo Switch 2 pre-load access is the priority. The two-weekend structure makes the access path as important as the content itself.
