Activision has unveiled the latest entry to the ever-popular military shooter franchise. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 will launch on October 23 this year for Xbox Series X, PlayStation 5, PC, and, notably, on Nintendo Switch 2. While the series’ return to Nintendo hardware is making waves, Xbox owners hoping for a free ride through Game Pass may be disappointed.
Pre-orders are already live digitally on PS5, Xbox, and PC, but support for older hardware is gone as Modern Warfare 4 skips PS4 and Xbox One entirely. The October release signals the end of an era for Warzone on those consoles too, as new downloads on PS4 and Xbox One will be disabled starting June 4.
Following the announcement on X, COD will also no longer launch day one on Game Pass — instead arriving a year later. Players looking to jump in immediately will need to pre-purchase the game outright, whether through the Standard Edition or the jam-packed Vault Edition:
| Content / Bonus | Standard Edition | Vault Edition |
|---|---|---|
| Full Game | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Open Beta Early Access | ✔️ (Pre-order bonus) | ✔️ (Pre-order bonus) |
| Hunter Killer Operator Skin | ✔️ (Pre-order bonus, available post-launch) | ✔️ (Pre-order bonus, available post-launch) |
| Hostile Alliance Operator Pack | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Special Forces Operator Pack | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Signature Weapon Collection | ❌ | ✔️ |
| BlackCell, one season | ❌ | ✔️ |
| 20 Battle Pass Tier Skips | ❌ | ✔️ |
| 1,100 COD Points | ❌ | ✔️ |
| DMZ Deployment Bonus | ❌ | ✔️ |
The usual duo of Infinity Ward and Beenox is developing the PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC versions. The Switch 2 version of Modern Warfare 4, promised to run natively, is being co-developed by Digital Legends, the support studio that ported Black Ops 7 to legacy consoles and worked on Warzone Mobile. However, specific details about performance, features, and pre-orders for the Switch 2 version have yet to be shared, though Activision said more information will arrive later this summer.
Activision also revealed several gameplay changes. The campaign will no longer feature co-op support, while hipfire bloom has been removed to make gunplay feel more ‘direct and predictable.’ The game will introduce Kill Block as well, a dynamic map that can shift between ‘more than 500 configurations’ between rounds, changing routes and even covers on the fly.
Prestige will also come in two flavors: Classic and Regular. Classic Prestige delivers the traditional reset experience, relocking Create-a-Class progression in exchange for faster XP gains and exclusive rewards. Meanwhile, Regular Prestige allows players to restart from Level 1 without losing their unlocked loadouts for a more flexible progression.
Perhaps the biggest departure for the franchise, however, is the setting for the story mode itself. Modern Warfare 4‘s campaign centres on a war sparked by the North Korean invasion of South Korea. You will follow Private Park as he experiences the brutality of frontline combat for the first time. Meanwhile, as the conflict escalates beyond Korea, Captain Price is forced to operate outside of the system. All for pursuing revenge and a dangerous weapon that could reshape the global balance of power.
Another yearly Call of Duty is pretty much inevitable. But finally having Modern Warfare 4 skipping day-one Game Pass is likely to leave a bitter aftertaste for Xbox fans.
