Call Of Duty MW3 release date and pre-order details
When does Modern Warfare 3 release?
When is the Modern Warfare 3 release date? As surely as the sun rises in the east, Activision will continue to release a new Call Of Duty game every year. This year it's Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, and while it's very clearly still a bread-and-butter COD game, the minor changes and the strong map pool have the potential to make this Activision's best Call Of Duty game in years.
If you're excited to try out the myriad guns, maps, and modes of MW3, you're not alone. Below we'll walk you through the full Modern Warfare 3 release date, pre-order details and editions, and everything to expect from the full launch of MW3 so that you're as prepared as you can possibly be for the game's launch this November.
When is the MW3 release date?
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will release on 10th November 2023, as confirmed by Activision with their August announcement post. MW3 will release simultaneously for PC, Xbox, and Playstation players across the world.
The Modern Warfare 3 beta ended on 16th October, following two days of open beta preceded by two days' early access for players who had pre-ordered MW3.
Before that there was another beta period between 6th-10th October, which was available only to Playstation players. But now that the entire beta has finished, players will have to wait until the global release date of Friday 10th November to get their hands on Modern Warfare 3 once more.
Modern Warfare 3 pre-order details and editions
You can pre-order Modern Warfare 3 anytime between now and the game's launch. To do so, simply go to your preferred store and follow the instructions to pre-purchase the game. MW3 is available on both Steam and Battle.Net, as well as online retail stores such as Amazon and GAME.
There are two editions available for Modern Warfare 3, and either of them can be pre-ordered. The two editions are:
- Standard Edition (£60 / $70 / €70)
- Vault Edition (£85 / $100 / €100)
Pre-ordering either edition of MW3 will have got you access to the recently finished open beta, as well as the ability to play the campaign up to a week before the game's full release on 10th November.
The Vault Edition also includes the Nemesis Operator Pack containing four multiplayer operators (Ghost, Price, Warden, and Makarov), as well as two Weapon Vaults and 30 free tier skips in the Season 1 Battle Pass.
What to expect from Modern Warfare 3
MW3 changes
Two big differences between MW2 and MW3 are the health pools and slide-cancelling. Yes, slide-cancelling has returned for Modern Warfare 3, and it makes it more important than ever to get the best loadouts in Modern Warfare 3 early on so you can acquire and eliminate those fast-moving targets. But also, the health pools of players have increased from 100 to 150, resulting in one of the slowest time-to-kill stats of any Call Of Duty game. There are players on both sides of the fence regarding this change, but I personally love it, as it widens the skill gap and makes things a little less frustrating overall.
MW3 multiplayer
Modern Warfare 3 looks to provide players with the original Modern Warfare 2 map pack, which is among the most beloved selection of multiplayer maps that Call Of Duty has ever had. Old favourites like Favela, Rust, Skidrow, and Estate were available to play in the beta, and they looked and felt fantastic.
As well as the usual multiplayer modes we've come to expect from modern Call Of Duty games (TDM, Kill Confirmed, Domination, Ground War, Search and Destroy), there's a brand new game mode called Cutthroat, which is a 3v3v3 round-based elimination mode that rewards teamwork and quick thinking more than most other game modes on offer.
MW3 campaign
In addition to the usual multiplayer offerings, Modern Warfare 3 will also come with a full singleplayer campaign that features so-called "open combat" missions which give the player greater freedom to complete objectives in the ways they desire. What we've seen so far heralds the return of Vladimir Makarov, the primary antagonist of the original Modern Warfare way back in 2007, as the big baddie of MW3. It seems like we might be in for quite a dark story for this year's campaign.
MW3 and Warzone
It's unclear so far how Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone 2.0 will overlap, but we know that Warzone will receive the brand new Urzikstan map in December, shortly after the release of MW3. It's also expected that the December update to Warzone will include changes to Warzone's movement mechanics, bringing it more in line with the slightly faster gameplay of MW3. Modern Warfare 3 players will of course be able to play Warzone as well, because Warzone is entirely free to play.
That's everything we know about the upcoming release of Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Be sure to check back often, as we'll be updating this page with all the latest news and details about MW3!