The PC beta for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 begins on August 21, 2026, and brings specific technical fixes that matter to players tired of launch delays. Infinity Ward is addressing the frustrating Update Restart loop that has plagued the title, and the studio is implementing Shader Preloading to cut down the wait time before you can actually start playing. We have been tracking Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 closely — see our earlier coverage on Call of Duty.
Shader preloading and standalone launcher reduce wait times
Activision is releasing this beta as a separate experience from the main Call of Duty HQ launcher. Because the beta operates as a standalone application, testers can launch it directly without needing to access the main game launcher. The studio is also requiring PC players to have TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot enabled for this test build.
The minimum system requirements list AMD Ryzen 5 1600 or Intel Core i5-8400 processors alongside 12 GB of RAM. You will need an AMD Radeon RX 470, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 or 1060, or Intel Arc A580 graphics card with at least 3 GB of VRAM. The recommended setup steps up to an AMD Ryzen 5 3600 or Intel Core i7-8700, 16 GB of RAM, and an AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, or Intel Arc B580 with 8 GB of VRAM. An SSD is required for storage regardless of your chosen tier.
The beta runs in two phases, with the second weekend from August 28 to September 1 open to all players and including a campaign mission. Infinity Ward is making changes to require fewer restarts than ever before to resolve the multiple restarts headache during updates. Shader Preloading will be a part of the beta on PC as well, letting players skip the first-launch wait time. The game supports Windows 10 64-bit for minimum specs and Windows 11 64-bit for recommended configurations.
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