Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, the series’ revamp of the military shooter genre, is set to debut in late October of this year. There’s been a ton of hype surrounding the title—more than most CoD games have received in recent years—and that enthusiasm will undoubtedly be further stoked by the public beta which is set to release this very week. That said, not everyone will be able to get their hands on the multiplayer demo that early, so here’s everything fans need to know about Modern Warfare’s upcoming server test/marketing gimmick.
Though Activision has been touting the fact that the beta will be playable within the week, that won’t be the case for a majority of players. In reality, though the beta will be accessible to some on September 12th, it’s only for those who’ve pre-ordered the game, and only on PS4. That’s right, Activision’s exclusivity deal with Sony will mar yet another season of Call of Duty content, though, like Black Ops 4, the platform disparity will only last a single week rather than an entire month.
So, the niche group of pre-ordered PS4 players will have exclusive access to the multiplayer beta on the 12th and 13th. For those not particularly invested in keeping track of time, that’s this coming Thursday. On Saturday the 14th, the beta will go live for the rest of the PS4 community. The plug will be temporarily pulled after the 16th, but the 19th will see access given to all pre-order holders on all platforms, and the courtesy will finally be extended to everyone across all systems from the 21st to the 23rd of September.
The most noteworthy thing about this whole affair is that, for the first time in franchise history, players will get a chance to experience crossplay in Call of Duty. This means that the Xbox One, PS4, and PC communities will finally be united, and, while there were a few rumors flying around stating that crossplay between consoles wouldn’t be possible, as far as we know, everyone will be able to play Modern Warfare together regardless of platform. Not only will this drastically increase the size of the player base, but it will also ensure that the game will continue to harbor a healthy amount of players for years to come. Lobbies should also fill up much more quickly, which should be a huge relief for those who want to play hardcore CTF at three in the morning.
One bit of weirdness will be the input difference between console and PC. While we’re not exactly sure how Modern Warfare will handle this, there’s likely to be a way for console players to opt-out of playing with keyboard and mouse players.
What’s more, while the previous alpha only featured the new-to-the-series two-against-two Gunfight mode, the beta will include more maps and game modes, and players will finally get a chance to see some of the tricks Modern Warfare is hiding up its sleeve. With maps and team rosters said to be larger than ever, it will be interesting to get a taste of exactly what Infinity Ward plans to unleash upon us come October 25th.