Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Open Beta Coming in September, Early Access For Pre-Orders

Today, Activision and Infinity Ward unveiled multiplayer gameplay for Call of Duty Modern Warfare on the official Call of Duty Twitch channel and announced a general Open Beta coming in September.

As a reminder, for the first time ever, this latest Call of Duty will feature cross-platform multiplayer between PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The gameplay reveal today included gameplay across platforms and so will the final phases of the beta.

The beta will be split into four phases:

• PS4 Only (9/12 – 9/13): Early Access for Pre-Orders
• PS4 Only (9/14 – 9/16): Open Beta
• All Platform Cross-play (9/19 – 9/20): Early Access for Pre-Orders
• All Platform  Cross-play (9/21 – 9/23): Open Beta

We haven’t gone hands-on with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare yet, but based on the footage we’ve seen, it definitely looks like the first real fundamental gameplay overhaul the game has gotten in quite some time. It’s still Call of Duty at its heart — the developers haven’t gone hyper-realistic or slowed things down — but visually and mechanically, it seems like there is now more depth with more options.

For example, the new Gunsmith system lets players modify and customize guns like never before.

And that variety is the name of the game this year with game modes ranging from 2v2 in Gunfight, traditional 6v6 in standard multiplayer game modes, 10v10 and 20v20 firefights, and even up to 100-player matches in the revamped Ground War mode.

Said Patrick Kelly, Creative Director and Co-Studio Head, Infinity Ward in a prepared statement:

Our goal with Modern Warfare is to bring all gamers together from day one to play together. We’re doing away with the season pass; we’re delivering a mix of free maps, a ton of content following launch, and we’re developing the game for crossplay. We’re live-testing now, and fans will get to try for themselves next month in the Beta.

This is a new day for Call of Duty multiplayer, and today is just the start — we have many more exciting reveals coming for fans that we can’t wait to share.”

The non-multiplayer offerings are back this year as well, including a viscerally realistic single-player story and the return of Spec Ops cooperative missions.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare releases October 25 with full cross-platform multiplayer between PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Players can pre-order for Early Access to the beta.