Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 will keep the time-to-kill from its second multiplayer beta weekend at launch, with another weapon-balance pass that makes SMGs more effective at close to mid-range. Tactical Sprint still requires the Blood Rush perk, but Infinity Ward has removed its additional sprint-out penalty.
The studio's launch patch notes, published on October 21 ahead of the October 23 release, detail the changes since the beta alongside campaign and DMZ fixes. Infinity Ward says feedback and in-game data showed players across skill levels preferred the second weekend's TTK, although weapon and class balance still needed work.
Blood Rush changes how sprinting works
Blood Rush now sits in the second perk tier. With it equipped, pressing sprint activates Tactical Sprint by default while stamina lasts. Double-tap and other input options remain available in the movement settings.
Infinity Ward has also fixed mismatches between first-person actions and third-person animations that made opponents' movement look wrong and allowed some snaking opportunities. Spawn changes address player separation, squad spawning and Hardpoint predictability.
The weapon pass tempers powerful one-hit-kill weapons through flinch and damage tuning, alongside the SMG improvements. Advanced Weapon Stats will be available at launch, and attachments have received their own balance pass.
UAVs retain the second beta weekend's cost of five kills, or four with Hardline, but their health rises from 100 to 150. Flash and Concussion grenades have slightly reduced effective range and duration, while Battle Hardened offers stronger protection against tactical equipment.
Shared attachments stay unlocked, unless you Prestige
Unlocking a shared attachment makes it available immediately on every compatible weapon. There is an exception for the optional Weapon Prestige grind: Prestiging a weapon locks all of its attachments, including shared ones, and switches it to a classic level-based unlock system. Other weapons that have not been Prestiged keep those shared attachments.
The launch roster includes 33 weapons and 20 multiplayer maps: 12 core 6v6 maps, three Ground War maps, four Gunfight maps and the separate Kill Block. Kill Block supports 3v3 and 10v10 Gunfight at launch, with 6v6 support planned for later.
Four new modes join the returning playlists. Inflation turns collected cash into a risk by revealing high-value carriers to both teams; Hijack involves taking a Data Spike to an enemy station. Collateral pairs Search & Destroy-style rounds with a buy phase, while Combat Outpost adds capturable, upgradeable outposts to Ground War. Infected and Possession are due the following week, not on day one.
The notes also collect DMZ fixes already addressed on October 20 and 21, including crashes, mission-progression problems and Switch 2-specific issues. The campaign receives a fix for a progression blocker in Counter Attack's hotel sequence.
Modern Warfare 4's full release, including multiplayer, is October 23 on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch 2. Campaign early access began October 16, followed by DMZ on October 20, so access to those modes does not mean the full multiplayer launch has arrived.