Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer release time and preload explained

A solider stares at the screen during Call of Duty: Modern Warfare's campaign
(Image credit: Activision)

The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer releases in just a few hours, so you don't need to hold on too much longer until we can play MW2 multiplayer.

Activision is breaking up how the new Call of Duty game releases, with the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 campaign being available through early access since October 20. As we’ve come to expect with major launches, we saw our fair share of crashes and error codes that needed to be ironed out. As such, we imagine the full Modern Warfare 2 launch will be met with much of the same – we’re sure Activision has ironed out plenty already, though the influx of multiplayer players will no doubt be hard to suppress. 

Thankfully, Activision and Infinity Ward have laid out when you can pre-load and play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s multiplayer, so you can keep on top of everything in your immediate control, just expect some turbulence when multiplayer unlocks.

Call of Duty: MW2 multiplayer preload time

You can preload Call of Duty: MW2 multiplayer right now, Preloads for Modern Warfare 2’s multiplayer are already available for PlayStation and Xbox, though you’ll have to wait until 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST on October 26) to download the multiplayer on PC. Infinity Ward confirms in a blog post that Modern Warfare 2 requires at least 72 GB on PC to download the full game, so you best prepare your hard drive.

MW2 release date 2022 times

Modern Warfare 2’s multiplayer releases alongside the full game, with rollout beginning at 4am PT / 7am ET / 12pm BST on October 27 for Xbox and PlayStation platforms.

The rollout concludes at 9pm PT on October 27 and midnight ET / 5am BST on October 28, at which point multiplayer unlocks also on PC. There will be a few things absent at launch, however, including the classic Modern Warfare 2 Hardcore mode, which is simply 'coming soon, and the Modern Warfare 2 Battle Pass which will arrive later on November 16th. 

If you haven’t already, you might want to ensure you have all the Modern Warfare 2 campaign rewards as they’ll net you a host of bonuses to carry into multiplayer. You can check out our Call of Duty MW2 pre-orders guide for everything you need to get access to the campaign early. 

We’ve been working on our Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 review, finding the campaign to be “thrilling from start to finish".

Deputy News Editor

Iain joins the GamesRadar team as Deputy News Editor following stints at PCGamesN and PocketGamer.Biz, with some freelance for Kotaku UK, RockPaperShotgun, and VG24/7 thrown in for good measure. When not helping Ali run the news team, he can be found digging into communities for stories – the sillier the better. When he isn’t pillaging the depths of Final Fantasy 14 for a swanky new hat, you’ll find him amassing an army of Pokemon plushies.

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