Call Of Duty NEXT And Modern Warfare 4 Beta Are Finally Here: Every AEST Date, PC Spec And Download Step You Need Before Saturday

The countdown is basically over. Call of Duty: NEXT goes live this Saturday, 22 August at 2AM AEST, and the Modern Warfare 4 Early Access Beta drops right after at…

By Reetam Bodhak

August 20, 2026

3 min read

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The countdown is basically over. Call of Duty: NEXT goes live this Saturday, 22 August at 2AM AEST, and the Modern Warfare 4 Early Access Beta drops right after at 4AM — giving pre-order players on Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC first crack at the new game before anyone else.

If you’ve been waiting to jump back into the fight, here’s everything worth knowing before you deploy.

Call Of Duty: Key Dates You Can’t Miss

Event	Date & Time (AEST)	Who Can Play
Early Access pre-load	Fri, 21 Aug – 2AM	Pre-order players (all platforms except Switch 2)
Call of Duty: NEXT	Sat, 22 Aug – 2AM	Everyone (livestream)
Early Access Beta	Sat, 22 Aug 4AM – Wed, 26 Aug 3AM	Pre-order required
Open Beta pre-load	Thu, 27 Aug – 2AM PT	All players
Open Beta	Sat, 29 Aug 3AM – Wed, 2 Sep 3AM	Everyone, including Nintendo Switch 2

Miss Early Access? No stress — the Open Beta the following weekend is free for all platforms, Switch 2 included.

PC Specs: Can Your Rig Handle It?

Infinity Ward has confirmed the official minimum and recommended specs for the beta, and PC players will also need TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot enabled to play online.

Tier	CPU	RAM	GPU
Minimum	Intel i5-8400 / Ryzen 5 1600	12GB	GTX 970/1060 or RX 470
Recommended	Intel i7-8700 / Ryzen 5 3600	16GB	RTX 3060 Ti or RX 6700 XT

PC players also get a new perk this year: Shader Preloading, which prepares your GPU’s shaders in the background before launch so you spend less time staring at a loading screen and more time actually playing.

Worth Knowing Before You Download

The beta is a separate install this time, not bundled into the main Call of Duty app, so you’ll need to search for it directly on your platform’s store. Progress carries over between Weekend One and Weekend Two, and any rewards you unlock stay tied to your Activision account for launch day on October 23.

For a refresher on the franchise’s roots, Call of Duty has been one of gaming’s biggest shooter series since 2003, and Modern Warfare 4 marks its next big swing.

Keep checking Technosports for more gaming beta trackers and release-day coverage as MW4 gets closer.