Highly anticipated: This year's pre-release Call of Duty beta will include several features never before included in a beta, allowing interested parties to test most of the final game's modes. Players will also catch their first glimpse of the Nintendo Switch 2 version, and a new PC feature aims to reduce the time spent waiting for shaders to compile.
Activision has revealed the start date, contents, and system requirements for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4's open beta. Like prior betas, it mostly centers on multiplayer content but will also include a campaign mission for the first time.
A brief trailer reveals that the mission, titled "Entrenched," includes snowy trench warfare, with players controlling a South Korean soldier amid a modern-day North Korean invasion. The initial reveal trailer showcased additional globetrotting missions starring franchise hero Captain Price.
Meanwhile, the first phase of the beta, available to customers who pre-order, also includes six multiplayer maps and eight modes: Team Deathmatch, Domination, Hardpoint, Kill Confirmed, Inflation, Search & Destroy, Kill Block, and Mobility Course. The early access beta will be available from 2 PM ET on August 21 to 1 PM on August 25 on Steam, Battle.net, the Microsoft Store, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. Pre-loads begin at noon on August 20.
The following week, the open beta, available to all players, runs from 1 PM on August 28 to 1 PM on September 1. It adds two Ground War maps, a Warzone map, two multiplayer maps, and support for Nintendo Switch 2. Pre-orders for Switch 2 will also open when beta pre-loads begin at noon on August 26.
Despite ending support for last-generation consoles and introducing new ray tracing features, Modern Warfare 4's beta system requirements mirror the final specs for last year's entry, Black Ops 7. Activision claims that the beta is playable on aging graphics cards such as the AMD Radeon RX 470 and Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 with as little as 3GB of VRAM. Even the recommended specs only demand an RX 6700 XT or RTX 3060 Ti with 8GB of VRAM. As was the case last year, TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot are also required.
To minimize time spent waiting after the first boot-up, the beta can compile shaders without the game being launched. After installing or updating the beta, PC users will receive a Windows system tray notification announcing that pre-compiling has started while displaying a progress percentage. Steam users must also briefly compile additional shaders after boot-up, but Battle.net performs the entire process in the background. Activision claims that shader pre-compilation consumes minimal system resources, freeing players to use their PCs while waiting.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 will be available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Battle.net, Steam, and Nintendo Switch 2 on October 23.