Modern Warfare 4 Season 1 starts on Friday 6 November 2026, for MW4 and Warzone together, and that is the day Warzone moves onto MW4's weapons, unlocks and progression. Before then, three pre-season drops fill the gap: Shipment on 27 October, Possession on 29 October and Infected on 30 October.
That gives you under two weeks to get your account ready. The first Battle Pass, a new Warzone and a fresh set of Warzone challenges all land at once, and every hour you spend on them is an hour not spent on the base grind. Checked against Activision's 14 October roadmap (as reported by Inven Global and Insider Gaming), the Ready for Launch progression and maps posts, the launch patch notes and Infinity Ward's Trello board.
When does MW4 Season 1 start?
Activision's 14 October roadmap image carries these dates, as reported by Inven Global and Insider Gaming. Its own blog posts confirm Shipment on 27 October and list Possession and Infected only as pre-Season 1 modes.
| Date | What arrives | Mode |
|---|---|---|
| 27 Oct | Shipment (6v6 core map) | Multiplayer |
| 29 Oct | Possession (Halloween party mode) | Multiplayer |
| 30 Oct | Infected (Survivors vs Infected) | Multiplayer |
| 6 Nov | Season 1, first Battle Pass, MW4 in Warzone | MW4 + Warzone |
Activision hasn't given a start time for Season 1. Dotesports expects the usual Call of Duty slot of 10am PT, which would be 5am AEDT on Saturday 7 November (US clocks will have gone back on 1 November). Treat that as an estimate until Activision confirms it.
Does MW4 progress carry into Warzone?
Yes, from Season 1. Until then the new Warzone isn't playable: the launch notes say choosing Warzone installs the current live version. Activision's progression post lists what switches on.
- Player Level: Warzone XP starts counting toward MW4's 1–55 levels and Prestige. MW4 Level Unlocks become usable in Warzone.
- DMZ Level: stays separate. DMZ XP feeds your Player Level, but Multiplayer and Warzone XP never feed your DMZ level.
- Weapon progression: Warzone joins the single shared weapon and camo grind, so levels, attachments and camos earned in Multiplayer or DMZ carry straight over.
- Mastery camos: three Warzone Mastery camos (Parallax, Damascus Reforged, Empyros) are listed but their challenges stay classified until Season 1.
- Daily Challenges: an extra set of Warzone Daily Challenges arrives at the start of the season.
- Battle Pass: the first one arrives with Season 1. Activision's launch post says BlackCell, Battle Pass and Tier Skip redemptions open once it's live in-game.
What's still unknown
Activision hasn't revealed Season 1's content yet; Insider Gaming reported the details were expected shortly after launch. Until then, these are open questions.
- Season 1 maps and modes: not announced for Multiplayer or DMZ.
- Warzone maps: press reports, including Dotesports, point to a Hajin Battle Royale map and a Zodiac Resurgence map. Activision's roadmap doesn't list them, so treat them as reported, not confirmed.
- Ranked Play: no date in any official post so far.
- Start time: see above. Only the date is confirmed.
The audience is already there for whatever arrives. Launch weekend peaked at 227,622 concurrent players on Steam, according to SteamDB figures reported by PlayGround.ru.
What the weekend patch fixed
Infinity Ward pushed a stability patch over the launch weekend, reported by PCGamesN on 25 October. Its Trello board also flags a few live issues that matter if you're grinding.
- Hijack: better spawn locations and respawn timing.
- Search and Destroy: no more defusing from an unintended distance or position.
- DMZ: the Exfil heli no longer vanishes with players inside.
- Weapon Prestige: a bug relocking Military camos and Apex Attachments after prestiging a weapon is marked resolved.
- Classic Prestige: entering it from the DMZ menus can block new Multiplayer classes until old ones are deleted. Prestige from the Multiplayer menus instead.
- Patriot XMR: its Platinum challenge may not unlock after Gold. Infinity Ward is investigating.
What to finish before 6 November
Season 1 piles a Battle Pass, Warzone and new challenges on top of the base grind. Clear the slow parts now so your time on 6 November goes on the new content.
- Reach Commander (level 55). Every weapon, perk and killstreak unlocks on the way, and those unlocks are what your Warzone loadouts will draw from. Our fastest route to 55 covers objective modes and Double XP tokens.
- Pick your Prestige track. Classic resets unlocks for a 20% XP boost and a Permanent Unlock Token; Regular keeps everything. Our Classic vs Regular breakdown helps you choose before Warzone XP starts flowing.
- Max the guns you'll run in Warzone. Attachments unlock one per weapon level, and the eight Military camos come with levels too (the Han 86 tops out at 72).
- Start the camo ladder. Gold, Platinum, Harmonic Break and Divergence stand between you and the Mastery camos. Multiplayer and DMZ Mastery both open at Divergence; Warzone's challenges are still classified.
- Bank DMZ levels. DMZ XP still raises your Player Level, but nothing outside DMZ raises your DMZ level, so it never speeds up later.
- Clear Daily Challenges every day. All three pay a bonus on top, and you get one reroll a day. From Season 1 a Warzone set joins them, so the habit pays twice.
Get ready for Season 1 without the grind
Short on time before 6 November? Our operators can take your account to Commander with Soldier Rank levelling: Team up and play alongside our operator on any platform, or choose piloted on PC. Weapon Levelling is piloted on PC, and every unlock stays on your account.