Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is now out worldwide, Activision confirmed on Friday 23 October, and it is the first new Call of Duty on a Nintendo console in thirteen years. It also ends a two-year run of day-one Xbox Game Pass launches for the series: the standard edition costs $69.99, and the game will not join the subscription until Holiday 2027.
- PS5
- Xbox Series X|S
- Nintendo Switch 2
- PC (Battle.net, Steam, Xbox app)
- Game
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4
- Developer
- Infinity Ward
- Publisher
- Activision (Microsoft Gaming)
- Release
- 23 October 2026 (campaign early access from 16 October, DMZ early access from 20 October)
- Price
- $69.99 standard, $100 Vault Edition (about SAR 262 and SAR 375 at the 3.75 peg; local store prices may differ)
- Age rating
- Nintendo's listing shows the descriptors Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language and Use of Drugs
- Status
- Confirmed by Activision, Xbox Wire and Nintendo
Key points
- Modern Warfare 4 launched on 23 October 2026 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC and Nintendo Switch 2. There is no PS4 or Xbox One version.
- At launch it has 20 multiplayer maps: 12 new 6v6 maps, 4 Gunfight maps, 3 Ground War maps and the Kill Block training facility. The new DMZ extraction mode is set in Hajin.
- It is not in Game Pass at launch. Activision says it arrives in Holiday 2027. Black Ops 7, Black Ops 6 and Modern Warfare III stay in Game Pass Ultimate.
- Critics have only scored the campaign so far. IGN gave it a provisional 8/10 and GameSpot gave it 7/10. Full verdicts on multiplayer and DMZ are still to come.
- Not yet confirmed: the Season 1 start date. Activision only says the Battle Pass and BlackCell arrive "upon availability" of Season 1.
What launched on Friday
After a week of staggered early access, the full game opened to everyone on 23 October. In its launch post, Activision describes three pillars. The first is a 16-mission campaign that follows a young South Korean soldier, Private Park, through a war on the Korean Peninsula while a hunted Captain Price fights his own battle elsewhere. The second is a multiplayer suite built on what the studio calls "grounded, precise combat". The third is DMZ, an extraction mode where players enter a hostile zone, chase objectives and try to leave with their loot before things go wrong.
The multiplayer numbers matter more than they first appear. Twenty maps on day one is a generous starting pool for a series that usually adds most of its content through seasonal updates. The new Kill Block map is a modular training facility rather than a fixed battlefield, which suggests Infinity Ward wants a playlist that can change shape without waiting for a new season. On the business side, a Vault Edition at $100 bundles operator packs, five signature weapon blueprints, one season of BlackCell and a DMZ starter bonus. Activision is also selling a charity Valor Pack, and says all of its net proceeds go to the Call of Duty Endowment, which helps US and UK veterans find work.
Infinity Ward has already shipped launch patch notes that fix DMZ disconnects, bounty tracking and players getting stuck in rocks on Hajin. The studio says more updates are coming "over the coming days". That is normal for a game of this size, but it also means the version people are buying this weekend is still changing.
Why the Switch 2 version is the real headline
The last time a new Call of Duty appeared on a Nintendo home console was Call of Duty: Ghosts on the Wii U in November 2013. The gap followed Nintendo's weaker hardware and a third-party market that had largely moved on from Nintendo machines. The road back started with a business deal, not a game. In 2023, while regulators reviewed Microsoft's $68.7 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard (completed on 13 October 2023), Microsoft signed a ten-year agreement to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo platforms. Nintendo's own launch note now says the series "returns to the Nintendo platform" with Modern Warfare 4, making it the first release to deliver on that deal. Nintendo is also selling it at the same $69.99 as every other platform, so there is no discount for the portable version.
For Nintendo, it fills a genre gap the Switch never really closed. For Activision, it opens a new audience of players who may never have owned a PlayStation or Xbox. Nintendo Life has published early impressions of the Switch 2 version, and its full review is still to come. Impressions are not measurements, though. The real test for the handheld version is busy multiplayer and DMZ matches, which only opened to everyone on Friday.
Background: why Game Pass lost its biggest game
Black Ops 6, in October 2024, was the first mainline Call of Duty to launch straight into Game Pass, and Black Ops 7 did the same in 2025. Microsoft reversed that policy earlier this year under new Xbox chief Asha Sharma. It paired the change with a lower subscription price as part of what has been called a "reset" of the Xbox business. Neither Microsoft nor Activision has explained the decision in detail. The simplest reading is commercial. Day-one subscription access gave casual players a reason to skip the $70 purchase, and Call of Duty is the one franchise where reports have put those lost sales in the hundreds of millions of dollars, although that figure is disputed. Other first-party Xbox games are still planned as day-one Game Pass releases, so this is an exception for one series, not the end of the model.
The timing is also part of a wider cost squeeze across the industry. Hardware and memory prices are rising, as we covered in our look at why the PS6 could cost over $1,000. Big publishers are pulling back on anything that weakens full-price sales.
What it means for players
If you are on Game Pass: do not wait for MW4 to appear in your library this year. You can buy it now or wait about twelve months. Meanwhile, the three most recent previous entries remain in Game Pass Ultimate.
If you are still on PS4 or Xbox One: this is the first mainline entry that leaves you out. You need current hardware, a PC or a Switch 2.
If you play on PC: check the requirements first. According to Activision's official PC specs, the game needs TPM 2.0, Secure Boot and 115 GB of SSD space. Our Modern Warfare 4 PC settings guide covers the official specs and the settings worth changing.
If you only want the story: there is no campaign-only edition. Reviewers put the campaign at roughly six to eight hours. Our early-access campaign breakdown lists all 16 missions and their locations.
In Saudi Arabia and the Gulf: the US price converts to about SAR 262 for the standard edition, but regional PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo stores set their own prices, so check the local store before buying. We could not confirm the Arabic language options from the official launch pages, so check the store listing for supported languages if that matters to you.
Reaction and what's next
Reviews so far cover only the campaign, which was playable early. IGN called it a strong sendoff for the current Modern Warfare storyline and gave it a provisional 8/10. GameSpot was cooler at 7/10. Other reviews collected by Nintendo Life range from cautious to glowing. Multiplayer and DMZ verdicts will take longer, because live-service modes can only be judged once servers are full and the first balance patches land.
Three things are worth watching over the next few weeks. First, how quickly Infinity Ward fixes the remaining DMZ problems. Second, whether the Switch 2 version holds up in full multiplayer lobbies. Third, when Season 1 begins, since the Battle Pass and BlackCell are tied to it. MW4 also has only a few weeks to itself before Grand Theft Auto VI arrives on 19 November. That launch could pull a lot of players' time and money, as we explored in our GTA 6 launch-day piece.
Sources
- Call of Duty blog (Activision): Modern Warfare 4 is live worldwide, 23 Oct 2026
- Xbox Wire: Modern Warfare 4 is live worldwide, 23 Oct 2026
- Nintendo: Modern Warfare 4 is out now for Nintendo Switch 2, 23 Oct 2026
- Call of Duty blog: Modern Warfare 4 launches as a standalone release (Game Pass in Holiday 2027), 15 Oct 2026
- Infinity Ward: Modern Warfare 4 launch patch notes
- IGN: Game Pass members will have to buy Modern Warfare 4 to play day one
- GameSpot: MW4 is not on Xbox Game Pass, but here's when you can expect it
- Nintendo Life: campaign review round-up
- Wikipedia: Acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft and Call of Duty: Ghosts
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