Modern Warfare 4 is live on PS5 and Switch 2, but PS4 players are left out

“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4” went live worldwide on Friday, October 23, 2026, on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC and Nintendo Switch 2, with its campaign, 20 multiplayer maps and the DMZ extraction mode all available from day one. What it doesn’t do is run on the older consoles still sitting under plenty of Nigerian TVs. Activision said when it announced the game in May that it “will not be available on PlayStation 4 or XBOX One”, and the same plan puts an end date on Warzone for those machines.

Infinity Ward leads development, with Beenox handling the PC version and Digital Legends building the Switch 2 version natively, according to Activision. For a player who never made the jump to a PS5 or Series X|S, the Switch 2 version is a second route into the game, while PC players can buy it through Battle.net, Steam or the Xbox app.

Price, Park and a Korean Peninsula on edge

The campaign puts you in the boots of Private Park, a South Korean soldier, and Captain Price, who Activision describes as now operating outside the system. The story moves between Korea, New York, Paris and Mumbai, built around conflict on the Korean Peninsula and a dangerous weapon that could fall into the wrong hands.

Multiplayer launches with 12 new 6v6 maps, four Gunfight maps, three Ground War maps and a modular training facility called Kill Block. Activision is also pushing a weapon system it calls Ballistic Authority, which covers aiming, handling, audio and visibility. DMZ, the extraction mode built around looting, fighting and recovering military technology, is live in its Hajin setting, and our breakdown of DMZ and the Hajin map covers how that mode works.

On a PS4, Warzone’s clock is now running too

Missing out on MW4 itself is only half of it for last-generation owners. Activision has said Warzone on PS4 and Xbox One will stop being playable once Season 1 begins, after new downloads on those consoles ended on June 4 and the in-game store was removed on June 25. If Warzone is the free Call of Duty you’ve been playing on a PS4 at home or at a gaming centre, the start of Season 1 is effectively the end of it on that machine.

Activision’s launch post doesn’t give a Season 1 date. It says the Battle Pass, BlackCell, Call of Duty Points and Tier Skips will only open once the Season 1 Battle Pass is live in the game, so buyers of the Vault Edition, which includes one season of BlackCell with up to 20 Tier Skips, won’t see that part of their purchase until then. We explained what PS4 players can still do before the cut-off in our guide to the Warzone PS4 shutdown.

What a PS4 owner can realistically do now

The real cost of MW4 for a last-generation player isn’t the game but the hardware. A PS5, an Xbox Series X|S, a Switch 2 or a gaming PC that meets the requirements are the only ways in, and each one adds a naira bill well above the price of the game itself. If you’re weighing a used console, test it thoroughly before you pay, because a faulty unit can cost more than the game you bought it for.

There’s also the question of timing. The campaign, multiplayer and DMZ are complete now, but the Battle Pass and BlackCell only open with Season 1, and the C.O.D.E. Valor Pack sold at launch only reaches Warzone then too, so there’s little to lose by waiting if Warzone is where you spend most of your time. Anyone who wants to know how Call of Duty is handled on subscriptions can read our explainer on when Call of Duty reaches Game Pass.

For anyone already on a PS5, Series X|S, PC or Switch 2, the full game is out now through the official Modern Warfare 4 page. For PS4 and Xbox One players, the date to watch is the start of Season 1, because that’s when Warzone on those consoles stops, and Activision hasn’t announced it yet.