Even though theCall of Dutyfranchise is one of the most successful video game franchises ever released, it doesn’t mean it hasn’t lost some of its playerbase. And that’s because some of the newer installments in theCODfranchise have been less than popular among OGCall of Dutyfans due to the implementation of unnecessary gameplay mechanics like “slide canceling” or “bunny hoping.” So it’s no surprise that Activision wants to go all out with the release ofCall of Duty Modern Warfare 2since they want to recover that lost playerbase.
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That’s why Activision has heavily invested in boostingCOD’spopularity byhiring celebrities for theMW2trailerand introducing several groundbreaking game modes like DMZ andWarzone 2. On top of that, Infinity Ward has done something never before: let players play theCall of Duty Modern Warfare 2campaign a week early before its full launch. There have also been some slight changes to the release schedule forMW2, so players that don’t want to miss a second of the launch will want to know all about it.
Starting October 19th, any gamer that pre-orderedCall of Duty Modern Warfare2(Standard, Cross-Gen, or Vault Edition) can pre-load the full Campaign onto their chosen gaming system. But, players that purchased thePlaystation or Xbox versionsofCOD MW2will be able to pre-load the full game startingOctober 20th(10AM PT), whilePC players(Steam or Battle.net) will be able to pre-load the full game startingOctober 26th(10AM PT).
The following chart showcases the pre-load size for the entire game for each gaming system (except PC players as players can only pre-load the Campaign):
35.49GB
36.2 GB
42.6GB
34.6GB
30.5GB
Launch Day Info
On October 27th, console players will have a regional rollout (4AM PT - 9PM PT). As per previous installments, New Zealanders will be among the first players to gain access Multiplayer and Special Ops, so players that want to get a jump start onMultiplayer and Spec Opscan switch their consoles' region to New Zealand, thus allowing them to bypass their local, regional rollout.
Unfortunately, PC players will have to wait a bit before being able to play since they have a set global release, regardless of their region. The release time for Steam and Battle.Net is 9PM PT, and there’s no way of bypassing this release time. The following is a chart displaying PC releases for certain time zones:
21:00 PDT
23:00 CDT
00:00 EDT
01:00 BRT
05:00 GMT
06:00 CEST
13:00 KST
12:00 JST
15:00 AEDT
Post-Launch Release Dates
Already starting October 28th,Modern Warfare 2Pre-Season begins until November 15th, during which time players can level up their weapons and unlock all base Loadout items. On November 16th, Warzone 2.0 and DMZ will officially launch alongside Season One ofCall of Duty Modern Warfare 2. Then players will have to wait until December 14th for Season One Reloaded which is also the launch day for the new game mode: Raids.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2full game access is scheduled to release on July 17, 2025, for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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