Modern Warfare 4 is live in Call of Duty on Steam, multiplayer draws criticism

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 has been live worldwide since October 23, 2026, inside the Call of Duty app on Steam, which also carries Black Ops 7 and Call of Duty: Warzone. On October 26, the app ranked sixth in Steam's most played chart with a daily peak of 180,256 players, up from 16th a week earlier.

The full launch followed an early access phase in which the campaign was playable first. A developer post on October 20 announced that DMZ Early Access in the Hajin zone was live. IGN, in an article republished on Steam News, confirmed that the full game including multiplayer launches on October 23 across all platforms.

What Modern Warfare 4 contains

According to the official launch post of October 23, the campaign has Price on the run while conflict erupts on the Korean Peninsula. Multiplayer starts with 20 maps: 12 new 6v6 maps, four Gunfight maps, three Ground War maps and the modular Kill Block training facility. A post from October 21 adds that Ground War is played 32v32, that Kill Block supports 3v3 and 10v10 Gunfight, and that the 6v6 map Shipment arrives shortly after launch on October 27.

DMZ is the extraction mode: players operate behind enemy lines and decide which objectives to pursue, what to secure and when to get out. Activision also sells a Vault Edition with operator skins, five signature weapon blueprints, one season of BlackCell including the current Battle Pass and up to 20 tier skips, and a DMZ Deployment Bonus. The game was announced for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 and PC, among other platforms.

Campaign praised, multiplayer criticized

The campaign has drawn the warmest response. During early access, Windows Central reported an 82% "Very Positive" user rating on Steam, PCGamesN counted 90% positive from 1,996 Steam reviews, and GamesRadar+ reported 94%. GameSpot gives the game an 8 ("Great") and praises a visually impressive campaign whose stories intertwine successfully. It also lists downsides, among them final boss fights it found too brief and a Vault Edition that it says gives paying players an advantage. The developers' own post of October 27 quotes the game as "A GENERATIONAL CALL OF DUTY GAME".

Multiplayer, which Infinity Ward opened early, met a harsher reaction. Push Square calls the feedback "Brutal So Far" and quotes a post saying "Spawns are still broken after the beta" and that skill-based matchmaking is turned up to the maximum. Push Square notes that feedback for the campaign and DMZ has been broadly very positive. In its comments, one player says the game "Plays much closer to the 360 cods", while another plans to stay away from multiplayer until a patch or two.

On player numbers, the picture depends on who counts. Windows Central, citing SteamDB, says Modern Warfare 4 has peaked at around 215,000 concurrent players on Steam so far, against 306,460 for Black Ops 6 at its October 2024 launch weekend. The same outlet reports a 32% drop from Black Ops 7 on Xbox, based on TrueAchievements and SteamDB figures, but notes the game was the number one best seller on Steam at release. Notebookcheck counted over 108,000 players on the first day of early access, more than the around 100,000 it cites for Black Ops 7, and cautions that the SteamDB tracker includes many Call of Duty games. Steam's own chart showed 162,400 players on October 27, rank five by current players.

For anyone deciding now, the campaign is the part with the clearest support from press and players. Multiplayer complaints about spawns and matchmaking are still fresh, and Shipment is due on October 27. The Call of Duty app as a whole stands at 58% positive from 796,553 Steam reviews, rated Mixed.