Update, October 20: After a handful of launch issues have seemingly been fixed, the Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 campaign is now available on Steam, Battle.net, Xbox, and PlayStation.
Yes, if you missed the marketing blitz, Activision Blizzard is offering early access to the campaign for all Modern Warfare 2 digital pre-orders, so you can play the single-player mode a full week before the rest of the game launches.
Perhaps predictably, the campaign unlocking process wasn’t quite smooth. PC players struggled on Steam with ‘connection timeout’ errors, although judging by the nearly 100,000 players (opens in a new tab) currently on the platform, those issues have been fixed. Xbox warned players that they were trying to jump in “too early” even after release time, though that seems to have worked out the same way.
While PS5 and PS4 players have been spared that sort of trouble, all platforms have struggled with missing campaign packs – you’ll need to make sure both Campaign Pack 1 and Campaign Pack 2 are fully installed before you can actually join in.
Original Story, October 19: Activision and Infinity Ward have confirmed details of the Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 campaign preload for early access players.
As previously announced, anyone who makes an early digital purchase of Modern Warfare 2 will get access to the campaign one week early. (Check out our Call of Duty MW2 pre-order guide for more information on where to buy it.) While the full game won’t officially launch until October 28, you’ll be able to join the campaign starting this week.
Modern Warfare 2 campaign preload time
Early access campaign preloads begin on October 19 at 10am PDT / 1pm EDT / 6pm BST. That’s a single, worldwide start time and the same for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X and S, Xbox One, and PC via Steam and Battle.net. The only thing the developers haven’t confirmed is the size of the preload, but the system requirements for the full game on PC suggest a 72GB install.
Modern Warfare 2 Early Access Campaign
Once you’ve downloaded the Modern Warfare 2 campaign, early access will begin on October 20 at 10am PDT / 1pm EDT / 6pm BST. As above, that’s a single, worldwide start time for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X and S, Xbox One, and PC via Steam and Battle.net.
This also gives you an edge in unlocking the Modern Warfare 2 campaign rewards, giving you a host of bonuses to take with you to the multiplayer side of the game.
If you’re looking for more of the best FPS games out there, you know where to click.