Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Release Times And Preloading Details

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II's official release date is nearly here, and in fact, the game is already playable in Australia and New Zealand to kick off its global rollout on October 28. In a nice little bonus this year, everyone who preordered Modern Warfare II can dive into the campaign already to help ease the wait for multiplayer.

Here's everything you need to do to play the Modern Warfare 2 campaign via early access and what you need to know for the full launch with multiplayer on October 28.

When does the full game + multiplayer launch?

On console, Modern Warfare II’s campaign and multiplayer are released at midnight local time, with the US West Coast being an exception–the game arrives at 9 PM PT there. For the game’s PC launch, check out the graphic below to see when the game arrives in your region. Pre-loading is supported on all platforms, and that might be a good idea for you, as the game weighs in at more than 100 GB on every platform. You'll even be facing a download that size if you buy a physical copy.

Developer Infinity Ward has advised against changing your console's region to try to get into the action early. Anyone who does this runs the risk of experience connectivity issues or being blocked from playing the game entirely until the official launch time in your region.

Modern Warfare II PC Release Times:

• 9 PM PT October 27
• 12 AM ET October 28
• 5 AM GMT October 28
• 1 PM JST October 28
• 3 PM AEDT October 28

How to play Modern Warfare 2's campaign early

On August 16, Activision announced an early access period for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's campaign. Everyone who digitally preorders Modern Warfare 2 got a week of early access to the game's campaign mode that began on October 20.

Additionally, digital preorders offer a few instant unlocks for Warzone and Call of Duty: Vanguard. Players will get the Final Judgment bundle and Khaled Al-Asad operator bundle immediately after pre-purchasing a digital copy of Modern Warfare 2.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's campaign follows three years after the events of 2019's rebooted Modern Warfare, with Captain Price's iconic Task Force 141 now fully formed and operating around the world. This rebooted Task Force 141 can be seen in action during Modern Warfare 2's full reveal trailer. For more, check out GameSpot's Modern Warfare II campaign review.

What to expect at launch

In addition to the game's campaign, Modern Warfare 2 will arrive on October 28 with a full multiplayer experience and a Spec Ops mode.

Activision has described Spec Ops as an "in-depth two-player cooperative experience." Players will venture to "large-scale hot zones" with their teammate to take part in "branching operations against [REDACTED]."

As for multiplayer, players were able to get hands-on with Modern Warfare 2's standard multiplayer and large-scale Ground War mode during the beta in September. Here are our early impressions of Modern Warfare 2's multiplayer beta, and here we discuss some thoughts after getting hands-on with Ground War.

According to Activision, Modern Warfare 2 saw the largest turnout of any Call of Duty beta, including the number of players, hours played, and number of matches played on all platforms across the two beta weekends.

Post-launch content

Players can likely expect the usual post-launch content from Call of Duty, with new maps, modes, and operator bundles added to the game, but Raids were also announced for Modern Warfare 2. During the Call of Duty Next event, Activision and Infinity Ward briefly mentioned Raids as a form of three-player co-op "engagement" that the publisher says will require "teamwork and strategic puzzle-solving" in between firefights.

Warzone 2.0 and DMZ

Following the launch of Modern Warfare 2, Warzone's sequel is scheduled to arrive on November 16. Warzone 2.0's new map is called Al Mazrah, which features new circle mechanics, a more-complex Gulag, and more.

Activision also announced that Warzone 2.0 would launch with a new free-to-play extraction mode called DMZ. The mode was vaguely teased as an all-new "sandbox experience" on Al Mazrah. More information on this mode should arrive closer to the game's launch. Here is everything announced for Warzone 2.0 and DMZ.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 releases on October 28 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Activision's exclusivity partnership with Sony continues with Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2.0, and here is some of the PlayStation-exclusive content announced so far.