Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Open Beta Start Date, Time, Early Access, Platforms, & How To Join

Ever since Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 was initially announced, Infinity Ward has been making some big promises for what fans can expect from the newest addition to the fan-favorite reboot. Having already claimed that Modern Warfare 4 will be pulling back on wacky cosmetics and will introduce a new extraction shooter mode with DMZ, the upcoming shooter project has been gaining even more eyes on it than ever.

While we're still a ways off from the official release of Modern Warfare 4, a recent announcement from its developers will let players try out the game far sooner than you might have expected, allowing you to get a first taste of what the future of the series has in store for fans.

When You Can Play Modern Warfare 4's Beta & Early Access Tests

As announced on the Call of Duty blog, the very first playtest for Modern Warfare 4 will launch in the form of an early access beta between August 21 and August 25, which will only be available to players who have already pre-purchased any edition of the upcoming game on either Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, or PC.

For players who want to try the game before they commit to a full purchase, Modern Warfare 4 is also getting an open beta weekend between August 28 and September 1. Notably, this window will also be the first time Switch 2 players can access the game, as pre-orders for the Switch 2 edition will go live just a few days before the open beta on August 26.

Despite the delayed pre-orders and lacking the early access playtests of its Xbox, PlayStation, and PC counterparts, Modern Warfare 4 will notably be the first Call of Duty game to be released at launch on Nintendo hardware since the release of Call of Duty: Ghosts in 2013 on the Wii U, which Activision has contracted to continue for future CoD releases.

What To Expect From Modern Warfare 4's Playtests

While Infinity Ward hasn't announced the exact lineup of maps and game modes we can expect to hop into when the beta goes live, they have announced that there will be a multitude of both that you can play using a "wide selection of brand-new operators," some of which will be exclusive to those who purchased the Vault Edition of the game before launch which includes the following characters:

• Price
• Valeria
• Ghost
• Blix
• COM SFT (France)
• KSK Amphibious (Germany)
• SK Special Forces (South Korea)
• SAS (United Kingdom)

You'll be able to unlock and play with up to 19 weapons in the beta tests alone, which you can play in smaller-scale battles or larger ones that we've seen in previous Modern Warfare reboot entries. Some of the game modes confirmed for the beta tests will also include Search & Destroy, Kill Block, and the Training Mobility Course to experiment with and practice MW4's updated movement systems.

Although the long-developed DMZ extraction mode won't be available during the early playtests, Infinity Ward has also released several challenges for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 that allow you to unlock skins that will carry over into Modern Warfare 4 when it fully releases on October 23, allowing you to get a head start on its cosmetics without having to pay a dime.

How To Get Every Carry Over Cosmetic In Modern Warfare 4

Even though your in-game progress like levels and unlocks won't carry over into the full release of Modern Warfare 4, participating in the beta tests will grant you the chance to unlock several exclusive cosmetics when the game fully releases, which will be available on top of the following skins and weapon blueprints included in the Vault Edition of the game.

• Kastov 762 Assault Rifle and “Voltspine” Blueprint
• ISO Nightshade Submachine Gun and “La Sombra Venenosa” (“The Poisonous Shadow”) Blueprint
• Rezi 12 Shotgun and “Shattered Code” Blueprint
• Oris 8.6 Marksman Rifle and “Volt-Edge” Blueprint
• Combat Knife (Melee) and “Sombra Besada” (“Shadow’s Kiss”) Blueprint

While we're still waiting to hear what these exclusive early access and beta participation rewards will be, you can still earn some limited-time weapon skins by playing the already available Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, which is currently offering several cosmetics for players who achieve certain in-game tasks before the release of Modern Warfare 4.

If you pre-order Modern Warfare 4 before July 23, you'll get access to the exclusive Gilded Pearl Universal Camo Pack for both games, which will also allow you to complete the season 5 challenge that goes live at the start of BO7's fifth season to unlock a limited serialized version of the weapon for the first 100,000 players who achieve it.

To actually complete this limited-time challenge, you'll need to earn a total of 5,000 skulls in either Endgame, Multiplayer, Zombies, or Call of Duty Warzone, with each of these various game modes providing a different number of skulls per kill, with Zombies notably requiring the most given its gameplay style, the numbers of which can be found in the following list:

• Endgame: 5 Skulls per Elimination
• Multiplayer: 10 Skulls per Elimination
• Warzone: 30 Skulls per Elimination
• Zombies: 1 Skull per Elimination

After you've completed the challenge, you'll be able to use the Moonlit Pearl and Gilded Ruin universal camos on any weapon available in both Black Ops 7 and Modern Warfare 4, giving you a head start on any weapon you manage to unlock later down the line.

Players can also expect more details about the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 beta tests closer to its release date, so you'll want to keep an eye out to make sure you don't miss out on any additional rewards.