Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® II – Everything You Need to Know for Launch
An Introduction to Call of Duty’s New Era
Welcome to the new era for Call of Duty®.
On October 20, anyone who digitally preordered or prepurchased Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II gets Early Access to the game’s Campaign*, up to one week before the game’s official launch on October 28.
That Early Access period marks the end of a 141-day journey since the game’s reveal announcement on June 2, one that featured plenty of intel:
- We were reintroduced to Task Force 141, taking a quick dive into its global Campaign with one of its missions: Dark Water.
- Through multiple Intel Drops, lead developer Infinity Ward explained key development concepts across Modern Warfare II, including its new Gunsmith.
- Call of Duty®: Next released a wealth of intel; among other announcements, we saw the game’s innovative Multiplayer in action, hinted at the evolved Special Ops, and even went farther into the future with Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0, a game that shares the same engine — and locations — as Modern Warfare II.
- Then we had the largest Beta in Call of Duty history, giving an early preview of Modern Warfare II‘s Multiplayer to more community members than ever before.
*One week based on estimated access; Actual play time subject to possible outages and applicable time zone differences.
This announcement is the final piece of intel before your hands-on introduction to Call of Duty‘s new era with Modern Warfare II Campaign Early Access.
And with it begins an exciting two months of content, through the start of Season 01 and the release of Call of Duty®: Warzone™ 2.0:
October 19 – 10 AM PT, All Platforms
Modern Warfare II Campaign Early Access Pre-Load Begins.
Preorder digitally now and get the Campaign Early Access experience ready to play.
October 20 – 10 AM PT, All Platforms
Modern Warfare II Campaign Early Access Begins.
Experience what made Task Force 141 become the iconic and legendary squad that it is today, as the globe-trotting and breathtaking story continues from Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® (2019).
October 19 – 10 AM PT – Xbox
October 20 – 4 AM PT, Regional Rollout – PlayStation
October 26 – 10 AM PT – PC (Steam and Battle.net)
Full Game Pre-Load Begins.
Depending on platform, pre-load the rest of Modern Warfare II before or during Campaign Early Access to ensure Multiplayer and Special Ops are ready to play at launch.
October 27 – Consoles – 4AM PT – 9PM PT Regional Rollout
October 27 – PC – See Map Above for timing
Modern Warfare II Officially Launches.
In addition to the Campaign, dive into an immersive, world-class Multiplayer and an evolved Special Ops co-op experience. Also, RICOCHET Anti-Cheat fully activates around the world with new and updated security measures.
October 28 to November 15
Modern Warfare II Pre-Season.
Level up through the Military Ranks to unlock all base Loadout items, complete each Weapon Platform’s progression tree to unlock all weapons and attachments, and progress through each Special Ops Kit’s tier system ahead of Season 01. Once the game launches, Vault Edition owners gain access to the FJX Cinder Weapon Vault** and Red Team 141 Operator Pack, and for those who unlocked rewards during Campaign Early Access and the Beta, rewards will become available once the full game is live.
November 16
Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0, DMZ and Battle Royale modes Launch Alongside Modern Warfare II Season 01.
In addition to a host of other content, a returning fan-favorite Multiplayer map and additional Special Ops missions arrive to Modern Warfare II. All players can drop into all-new Al Mazrah map as part of Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0, survive a brand-new experience in DMZ, and enjoy a new Battle Pass system and two free functional weapons. Vault Edition owners can activate their free seasonal Battle Pass unlock and 50 Tier Skips***.
December 14
Season 01 Reloaded Introduces Raids.
Special Ops receives the very first episode of Raids for Operators to master. Plus, another legendary Multiplayer map comes to Modern Warfare II, while Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 has its first post-launch update.
WEEK ZERO: EARLY CAMPAIGN ACCESS OVERVIEW
Available with digital preorder or prepurchase, Campaign Early Access gives you:
– An immersive introduction to Modern Warfare II
– A head start on earning campaign completion unlocks
Campaign — The Next Chapter of the Modern Warfare Story
The Modern Warfare II Campaign is an indirect continuation of the Modern Warfare® (2019) story, picking up three years after Task Force 141’s original formation.
Under the supervision of Station Chief Kate Laswell, Captain John Price creates the international special operations group with two hand-picked selections from his storied military history – John “Soap” MacTavish and Simon “Ghost” Riley – and Kyle “Gaz” Garrick, the former Special Air Service Sergeant who worked alongside Price during the events of Modern Warfare.
Over the next 36 months, Task Force 141 goes dark to perform classified missions around the globe, leading up to the beginning of Modern Warfare II‘s story and you can learn more in our blog.
Take the full week to explore this story, and you may find some critical intel along the way…
Campaign — Prepare for Launch with Completion Rewards, Platform-Specific Accolades
The Modern Warfare II Campaign offers completion rewards for use in Multiplayer, Special Ops, and Warzone 2.0.
This is everything you can unlock in order:
- Calling Card: “Soap’s Determination”
- Emblem: “What’s Done is Done”
- 30 Minute Double XP Token
- 30 Minute Double Weapon XP Token
- Calling Card: “Chainlinked”
- Base Operator: Chuy
- 30 Minute Double XP Token
- 30 Minute Double Weapon XP Token
- Calling Card: “Gaz”
- Base Operator: Nova
- 1 Hour Double XP Token
- 1 Hour Double Weapon XP Token
- Calling Card: Shadow Company Ops
- Base Operator: Reyes
- 1 Hour Double XP Token
- 1 Hour Double Weapon XP Token
- Base Operator: Hutch
More details can be found in our blog.
MULTIPLAYER AND SPECIAL OPS OVERVIEW
Multiplayer — Innovative, Immersive, and World-Class; More Intel Before Release
Modern Warfare II Multiplayer defines “emergent gameplay” with a focus on variety; those who played the Beta already got a glimpse of the game’s assortment of modes, locales, and Loadout items.
On day one, there will be 12 unique modes: 10 traditional modes on Core Maps and two Ground War modes on Battle Maps.
These maps are grouped into one of three regional categories:
One Multiplayer map within Al Mazrah is Al Bagra Fortress, located on the southern shore of the region.
Al Mazrah
This metropolitan area and its outskirts within the Republic of Adal serves as the main region for Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0.
One Multiplayer map within Las Almas is Mercado Las Almas, centrally located within the region’s southeastern town.
Las Almas
A major place of interest within the Modern Warfare II Campaign, Las Almas is a Central American region with a similar footprint to Al Mazrah.
One Multiplayer map from elsewhere in the Modern Warfare II universe.
Rest of the World
The last group of Multiplayer locales is an assortment of Core Maps with no specific region. A mixture of places within the Campaign and completely outside of the entire main storyline, these maps round out the Modern Warfare II universe with glimpses of what is happening outside of Al Mazrah and Las Almas.
Prior to the full game release, expect our blog to bring you a full breakdown of all Multiplayer-specific features and launch Playlists; tips on creating a Loadout; and more.
Special Ops — Replayable Co-Op, Raids Coming in Season 01
An evolution of the Special Ops mode from Modern Warfare (2019), this co-op experience will initially feature three missions at launch, all taking place in Al Mazrah:
Low Profile
Infiltrate a town in the dead of night to uncover intel and evidence left behind by Al Qatala before exfiltrating. Stealth is key to survival.
Denied Area
Multiple SAM turrets are preventing reinforcements from entering Al Mazrah. With the help of a vehicle, navigate through the winding streets of a suburb to destroy them; then speed over to the exfil plane to escape.
Defender: Mt Zaya
A love letter to fans of survival modes — defend the observatory from increasingly difficult waves of enemies attempting to detonate bombs. Between each wave, Operators can spend cash to get items, such as Killstreaks, Self-Revive kits, and armor plates.
In Special Ops, Operators will have access to a Backpack to store equipment and one of three Kits that are similar to a set of Perks, Field Upgrades, and Killstreaks in Multiplayer:
Assault: Kit focused on increased armor with an Armor Box Field Upgrade
Medic: Kit focused on quicker revives with a Stim Pistol Field Upgrade for ranged instant revives
Recon: Kit focused on better equipment usage with a Snapshot Pulse Field Upgrade to see nearby enemies
Kits are leveled up by earning Stars through missions and mission-related challenges, which gives all three of these launch missions plenty of replayability.
We highly recommend completing all three Special Ops missions with three stars and have at least one Kit leveled up to Rank 5 before Raids, a direct continuation of the Campaign, are introduced to Special Ops later in Season 01.
Progression — The Journey at Launch, More Intel Prior to Release
At launch, there is more to Modern Warfare II than the traditional Military Ranks.
Prior to Season 01, which will feature a new Battle Pass system and Seasonal Prestige, players will have access to the Progression systems and you can expect a breakdown of all these Progression systems in our blog.
THE BEST WAY TO PREPARE FOR WARZONE 2.0, DROPPING ON NOV. 16
Through Modern Warfare II Multiplayer and Special Ops, familiarize yourself with the core of Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0:
Operators — 25 Available at Launch
Weapons — Over 30 Weapon Platforms at Launch for Over 50 Unique Weapons.
Gameplay Mechanics. Movement, firing, and other fundamental features are shared between all games within the Modern Warfare II universe.
RICOCHETAnti-Cheat™. The system will be actively monitoring and taking action against cheaters in Modern Warfare II, learning how they operate to mitigate unfair play across both games.
Operators — Meet SpecGru and KorTac, Including PlayStation Exclusive Oni
Following the events of the Campaign, two private military contractors — SpecGru and KorTac — are special forces, capable of carrying out international tactical operations.
These two factions are ready to deploy in Modern Warfare II Multiplayer and Special Ops at launch. All players will automatically have access to the default Mil-Sim Operators for each faction.
Eighteen more Operators can be unlocked through Campaign, Multiplayer, and Special Ops challenges, to be detailed as part of our Progression overview later this month.
In addition, Price, Farah, Soap and Ghost Operators are available via the Vault Edition’s Red Team 141 pack, and another — Oni — is a pre-order exclusive on PlayStation ****.
Once unlocked, all these Operators will also be available in Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0, alongside new Operators that will arrive in Season 01 and beyond.
Full roster of non-Mil-Sim Operators can be found in our blog.
Weapons — Weapon Platforms and the Gunsmith
At launch, there will be 33 unique Weapon Platforms available to unlock through the Military Ranks. Each Weapon Platform can contain up to six weapons, which can be obtained by leveling up specific weapons within a Weapon Platform.
By unlocking all these Weapon Platforms and completing all applicable Weapon Platform progression thresholds, you will have 51 Primary and Secondary Weapons to choose for a loadout.
One Shared Engine
Along with weapons and Operators, Modern Warfare II shares its core features with Warzone 2.0.
From movement — boots on the ground, swimming, and vehicles — to firing and even locations, playing Modern Warfare II allows you to get comfortable with most of what you will find in the forthcoming free-to-play Battle Royale experience.
RICOCHET Anti-Cheat on Day One
Modern Warfare II will launch with a new unified security platform that features new and returning mitigations to promote fair play.
ADDITIONAL LAUNCH INTEL
Outside of Modern Warfare II, get exclusive in-game rewards by watching any Twitch.tv stream of the game during launch week, and celebrate launch with new Task 141 themed gear at the Call of Duty Shop.
Incoming Twitch Drops — Oct. 28 to Nov. 6
Earn Modern Warfare II content for free, simply by watching your favorite streamer play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II Livestream on Twitch! Find out how you can earn special drops in our blog.
Gear Up for Launch at the COD Shop
The Call of Duty Shop is reloaded with Task Force 141 gear, including an anime-inspired hoodie and dozens of other outfits for the whole squad.
Head to the Shop now and ready up for launch.
Preorder Now for Early Access, Rewards
As this exciting year of Modern Warfare II kicks off with Campaign Early Access on October 20, do not be left behind with this transition to the new era of Call of Duty.
Players who digitally preorder Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II will receive up to one week early access to the full Modern Warfare II Campaign. Players who preorder the Vault Edition of Modern Warfare II will receive this benefit plus the Red Team 141 Operator Pack, FJX Cinder Weapon Vault**, Season 01 Battle Pass, and 50 Tier Skips***.
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