Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Beta Trailer Reveals Campaign Footage and a Map That Rearranges Itself

Activision has released a teaser trailer for the first Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 beta weekend, and for the first time in the franchise's history, it includes a slice of the single-player campaign — not just multiplayer. The trailer, published on the official Call of Duty YouTube channel on August 17, previews the beta's 6v6 multiplayer, the large-scale Ground War mode, a modular map called Kill Block, and a campaign mission titled "Entrenched" (GameSpot).

Players who preorder Modern Warfare 4 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, or PC get into the first beta weekend, which runs August 21–25 according to Activision's support page (Activision Support). The official Call of Duty beta page lists Early Access as August 21 to August 25, with the open beta following August 28 to September 1 — one day longer than the August 28–31 window reported elsewhere (callofduty.com). Per Activision's support page, the open beta requires no preorder and is available to all players on all platforms, including Nintendo Switch 2 (Activision Support).

Switch 2 owners are locked out of the first weekend. Preorders on Nintendo's console do not begin until August 26, so the early access window passes them by. They can join the open beta when it starts on August 28.

The beta's headline attraction is Kill Block, billed by Activision as the most ambitious multiplayer map in Call of Duty history. It is set at the fictional West Bridge Advanced Military Training Facility, where the battleground reconfigures before every match — walls, cover, and sightlines shift so that no two rounds play out on the same layout. The first weekend also includes the "Entrenched" campaign mission, letting players sample the story mode alongside competitive multiplayer. The open beta adds different multiplayer maps, the Ground War mode, and first access to Warzone's new Resurgence Zodiac map — Warzone being Call of Duty's free-to-play battle royale (GameSpot).

Modern Warfare 4 launches October 23, 2026 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Switch 2. That release date, confirmed by the reveal trailer on Xbox.com and IGN, puts it roughly a month ahead of Grand Theft Auto 6, which arrives November 19 (GameSpot).

The game carries a couple of franchise firsts worth noting. It is the first Call of Duty on a Nintendo platform since 2013's Call of Duty: Ghosts, and the first since Ghosts to skip the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One entirely — the series has moved on from the previous console generation.

Unlike the last two entries, Black Ops 6 and Black Ops 7, Modern Warfare 4 will not launch directly into Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft's subscription service that grants access to a library of games for a monthly fee. The change reflects what GameSpot describes as Microsoft's shifting multiplatform release strategy — the company now treats each title's rollout on a case-by-case basis rather than committing every first-party game to Game Pass on day one (GameSpot).

Preordering any edition of the game grants open beta early access and the Hunter Killer Operator Skin as a bonus (callofduty.com).