Even though the Call of Duty franchise 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 the COD franchise have been less than popular among OG Call of Duty fans 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 of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 since they want to recover that lost playerbase.
That's why Activision has heavily invested in boosting COD's popularity by hiring celebrities for the MW2 trailer and introducing several groundbreaking game modes like DMZ and Warzone 2. On top of that, Infinity Ward has done something never before: let players play the Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 campaign a week early before its full launch. There have also been some slight changes to the release schedule for MW2, so players that don't want to miss a second of the launch will want to know all about it.
Pre-Load Info
Starting October 19th, any gamer that pre-ordered Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 (Standard, Cross-Gen, or Vault Edition) can pre-load the full Campaign onto their chosen gaming system. But, players that purchased the Playstation or Xbox versions of COD MW2 will be able to pre-load the full game starting October 20th (10AM PT), while PC players (Steam or Battle.net) will be able to pre-load the full game starting October 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):
|
Platform |
Size |
|
Playstation 4 |
35.49GB |
|
Playstation 5 |
36.2 GB |
|
Xbox |
42.6GB |
|
Battle.Net |
34.6GB |
|
Steam |
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 on Multiplayer and Spec Ops can 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:
|
Region |
Time |
|
Los Angeles, USA |
21:00 PDT |
|
Mexico City, Mexico |
23:00 CDT |
|
Quebec City, Canada |
00:00 EDT |
|
New York, USA |
00:00 EDT |
|
São Paulo, Brazil |
01:00 BRT |
|
London, UK |
05:00 GMT |
|
Stockholm, Sweden |
06:00 CEST |
|
Berlin, Germany |
06:00 CEST |
|
Seoul, South Korea |
13:00 KST |
|
Tokyo, Japan |
12:00 JST |
|
Sydney, Australia |
15:00 AEDT |
Post-Launch Release Dates
Already starting October 28th, Modern Warfare 2 Pre-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 of Call 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 2 full game access is scheduled to release on October 28, 2022, for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.