Activision has confirmed the global release times and preload details for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, which launches in various parts over the coming weeks.

Modern Warfare 4 (full game including Multiplayer) officially launches on October 23 across all platforms, but you’ll be able to play the campaign a week before that with Early Access, which kicks off on October 16. DMZ, Modern Warfare 4's extraction mode, is available from October 20.

Whether you’re playing Modern Warfare 4 on PC, PS5, Xbox Series consoles, or Nintendo Switch 2, this post will cover everything you need to know about getting those boots on the ground: release times, preload details, Early Access launch, and more.

As I said above, Modern Warfare 4 officially comes out on October 23, but what time you’ll get access depends on whether you have Early Access and what platform you plan to play on.

Modern Warfare 4 players on PC will be able to jump on at midnight local time on the morning of October 23. Wherever you’re based, the game will unlock at midnight. If it doesn’t trigger straight away, fully close and exit Steam — a relaunch should trigger it.

Campaign Early Access for Modern Warfare 4 begins on October 16, 2026, for players who digitally preorder the Standard Digital Edition or Vault Edition of the game. For people who bought physical, there’s no Early Access for preorders of the Standard Edition.

Additionally, players who preordered will get Early Access to DMZ mode, which kicks off on October 20.

Here’s a look at the Modern Warfare 4 editions:

Preload for Modern Warfare 4 will begin rolling out on October 14 at 9pm PT. Here’s how that looks for other regions:

During setup, you can choose which content to download, including whether to install Warzone alongside Modern Warfare 4. The new version of Warzone will not be available until the launch of Season 1.

Xbox players should be able to circumvent regional restrictions with the New Zealand trick, where they change their in-game timezone to New Zealand in the settings, tricking their console into letting them pre-install and play early.

According to the official Modern Warfare 4 system requirements, the game will need 115GB of available SSD space on PC. Console versions may vary — and it’ll depend what content you decide to download — but they’ll likely be somewhat similar.

Modern Warfare 4 minimum PC requirements:

Modern Warfare 4 recommended PC requirements (90fps, High Settings):

The beloved co-op adventure game, Peak, has been leaked for PS5 by the ESRB.

Last year, an adorable, cheap co-op game known as Peak blew up on Steam. In the game, players unite with their friends to pass through a wide variety of deadly obstacles in order to climb absurdly tall mountains. They must use the power of friendship and a handful of tools to overcome the odds, often resulting in hilarious deaths, injuries, and hijinks. As of August 2025, Peak has sold over 10 million copies, partially thanks to the fact it only costs $8 and is an easy sell to a group of friends.

It seems like the game will likely only continue to grow its audience, as the ESRB has rated Peak for PS5. Historically, ESRB leaks are incredibly accurate, so it seems like only a matter of time before an official announcement is made. As of right now, it's unclear if Peak will also come to Xbox and Nintendo Switch 2, but it would be surprising if this remained console exclusive to PS5.

Unfortunately for new players, Peak ended its post-launch support earlier this summer. As a result, you probably shouldn't expect the game to receive any significant content after it releases on console. It's also unclear if it will enjoy the same exceptionally low price when it does hit consoles, but it would be surprising if the team behind the game changed it. Following the game's release, the team noted that there's a psychology behind pricing a game that low.

“We had this joke of, like, 'How much is a game really?'" said Peak co-creator Nick Kaman. "In a player’s mind, what does it mean to spend five bucks? Well, that’s five bucks. But six bucks? Well, that’s still five bucks. Four bucks is also kind of five bucks. Three bucks is two bucks. And two bucks is basically free. So we’ve got these tiers: You know, twelve bucks… that’s ten bucks. But thirteen bucks is fifteen bucks. And we found that eight bucks is still five bucks. It doesn’t become ten bucks. Seven ninety nine, that’s five bucks, right? So, eight bucks going to five bucks is the biggest differential we could find in pricing, so we found it very optimal.”

It's unclear when an official announcement might follow, but if there's an ESRB rating, it typically means that the game isn't too far away from a release.

As part of IGN Fan Fest 2026: Fall Edition, we can reveal a new gameplay trailer for Send in the Clown, the upcoming one-hour comedy RPG where players become history's least-appreciated clown as he tries to save a 12-year-old's birthday from her brat brother.

Co-directors Nick Park and Jacques Mouledoux walk us through the latest look at Send in the Clown, focusing squarely on the game's climactic, one-and-only turn-based RPG battle.

Yes, the team built a whole battle system for just one fight, and all the roads that lead to it are pretty hilarious.

Players will step into the oversized shoes of Pockets as he tries to save Miranda's party from her brother Tad. To do so, he'll need to recruit characters and gather items, which will in turn unlock each character's unique ability.

For example, if he can teach a single dad how to dance, he'll unlock a dance troupe attack. If he helps hype up Miranda's friend Nasser, the team will be able to use the 'Be a Hero' move that protects an ally from damage. Lastly, if you are able to give a mother a break from watching her baby so she can lay be the pool, she will be able to throw said baby at an enemy for ultimate damage.

We also got a tease of other ways you can help turn the tide of the final battle in your favor, including finding Tad's baby photos, finding religion, and waking Nanna. Developer Mad Herons wouldn't reveal what would happen when you find those things, but the reward will surely be useful.

Send in the Clown is set to debut later this year on PC via Steam, and you can check out the demo right now.

For more from IGN Fan Fest 2026: Fall Edition, check out our main guide that explains how to watch, what to expect, and more.

Adam Bankhurst is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on X/Twitter @AdamBankhurst, Instagram, and TikTok, and listen to his show, Talking Disney Magic.