Modern Warfare 4's Beta Adds a Playable Campaign Mission for the First Time in CoD History

Modern Warfare 4's beta will let players try a single-player campaign mission for the first time in the franchise's history, with the "Entrenched" mission playable across both beta weekends starting August 21. Call of Duty confirmed the plans on its official account, pairing the campaign preview with a new Warzone Resurgence map called Zodiac that lands in the Open Beta's second weekend.

Early Access runs August 21-25 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, open to anyone who pre-orders the game, wins a giveaway at the CoD Next event, or holds a Discord Nitro subscription. It ships with five multiplayer maps, including a dynamic map called Kill Block, and nine total modes covering standards like Team Deathmatch alongside newer additions. The Open Beta follows August 28 through September 1, opens to everyone without pre-order or subscription requirements, adds Nintendo Switch 2 support, swaps the Lotus map for Lithium, and layers in two more modes, Hijack and Combat Outpost. DMZ extraction stays out of both weekends entirely.

Warzone's slice of the beta centers on Zodiac, a Resurgence-format map built for large-scale Ground War alongside the usual battle royale drops, though it only opens during the Open Beta's back half rather than for the full stretch.

Entrenched puts players into the same story our earlier coverage has tracked. Infinity Ward built the campaign around Private Park, a South Korean soldier facing a full-scale North Korean invasion, and Captain Price working outside the chain of command, and the beta mission gives a hands-on preview months before the "Traffic" trailer showed Price escorting an ally named Valeria to Paris in exchange for intel on a target called Archer. Full campaign access for pre-order customers still arrives October 16, a week ahead of the October 23 launch.

I think putting a campaign mission in a beta says more about Activision's confidence in the story than any marketing line could, since a weak mission here would undercut pre-orders instead of driving them. I'd guess Entrenched got picked specifically because it's an early, contained scene rather than anything that spoils where Price and Park's arcs eventually meet, which is the safer choice for a preview built to sell the rest of the campaign.

Players who miss both beta weekends still get the full multiplayer, Warzone, and campaign experience at launch on October 23, with pre-order early access to the campaign landing exactly one week earlier.