MW4 DMZ Early Access went live Tuesday, October 20, at 10am PT (1pm ET), at the same moment everywhere. If you digitally pre-ordered or pre-purchased Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 on any platform, you get three days with Infinity Ward’s extraction mode ahead of the full launch on October 23.
Who gets in
Any digital edition counts, Standard or Vault, on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, PS5, Steam, Battle.net and Nintendo Switch 2, according to the Call of Duty blog. It’s a digital pre-order perk, so a disc pre-order won’t get you in early. You also need the DMZ update, which Call of Duty Updates said would be out on every platform by 9am PT on Monday, October 19, so grab it if your console or PC hasn’t already.
Your time isn’t throwaway, either. XP and Weapon XP earned during DMZ Early Access count toward your regular MW4 progression and unlocks, camos included.
On PC, TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot need to be switched on starting with DMZ Early Access. If you haven’t checked your BIOS yet, our Modern Warfare 4 PC requirements story walks through it. On Xbox, remember MW4 is a separate purchase and isn’t coming to Game Pass until Holiday 2027, which we covered in our campaign early access story.
What DMZ actually is
DMZ is Call of Duty’s take on an extraction shooter. You drop into Hajin, a war-torn exclusion zone on the Korean peninsula, with a squad or on your own. You fight AI forces and other players’ squads, loot as much as you can carry, and then you have to reach an exfil and get out. Make it out and you keep your haul. Go down and your Operator goes missing in action along with whatever wasn’t in a secure slot.
Every deployment starts from your Forward Operating Base, or FOB. Some stations are open from the start, like your Operators, DMZ Orders, your Stash and Loadout, a firing range, Survival Kits and the bounty leaderboard. The rest unlock as you level up DMZ’s own 70-level progression track. The 3D Printer opens at level 2, the Vendor at 5, the Gunsmith at 10 and the Dog Tag Case at 20, while the Boss Board shows up after your second DMZ Order.
What to do on your first night
Follow the DMZ Orders. Activision built them to walk you through the mode, and they pay out cash, loot and resources that get your FOB going. Once the 3D Printer unlocks, use it, because it’s how you craft medkits, armor vests and bigger backpacks out of the junk you drag home. Medium backpacks add secure slots, which protect items even when a run goes wrong.
You start with two Active Duty Operator slots. Each Operator earns up to 18 Trait Points across three trees (Warfighter, Scout and Survivalist), and the more Traits they have, the more DMZ Cash it costs to rescue them if they go MIA. Even a failed run isn’t a total loss, since the DMZ XP you earned still counts.
When you deploy, you can pick Story Missions, Dynamic Operations or Free Roam. Walking in from the ground is free, while vehicle and air insertions cost DMZ Cash, all the way up to a 100,000 DMZ Cash cargo plane drop that lets you choose exactly where you land. Big targets include Lieutenants, whose intel you buy at the Boss Board, and roaming Commanders like the minigun-carrying Colossus, a helicopter-sized Deathstalker drone and a North Korean battle tank. Player kills come with a catch, too. Your first one puts a bounty on your Operator, and after four you’re Wanted, which alerts nearby squads when you get close.
The Vault Edition extras
The Vault Edition ($99.99 on Xbox, PlayStation and Steam) includes these DMZ items, according to Activision. It adds a third Active Duty slot and a Deployment Kit with two Weapon Insurance Contracts, two Operator Rescue Beacons, two Fulton Drop Markers, two medium backpacks and two 2-plate carriers. It also gives you one-time use of its Signature Weapon Collection blueprints, with a discount to rebuild any you lose. Standard Edition players get the same mode and the same progression tracks.
More Xbox news is on our Xbox hub.
So get the update downloaded, pack a medkit, and drop into Hajin.