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Modern Warfare 3 pre-load and unlock times

With campaign early access behind us, Modern Warfare 3's next big moment is the full launch later this week.

Modern Warfare 3
Image credit: Activision
Sherif Saed avatar
Guide by Sherif Saed Contributor
Updated on

The full launch of Modern Warfare 3 is just a few short days away. If you're excited to play this year's Call of Duty, you've likely already finished the poorly-received campaign.

Next up is Zombies, and the almighty multiplayer - both of which go live at the same time. There is still time to check out the campaign, if you're curious. Ordering any digital copy will let you play it immediately.

We've put together this guide to answer all your questions about pre-load times, unlock times, and more.

Modern Warfare 3 full launch (multiplayer/Zombies) pre-load times

You may be playing the Modern Warfare 3 campaign right now. You may even have already finished it, considering how short it is. But we all know multiplayer is all everyone is excited about, right alongside Zombies fans hoping for Modern Warfare Zombies to turn out good.

This is where this second part of the pre-load comes in. Multiplayer and Zombies content will need to be downloaded separately, and those files are starting to go live. It all begins Wednesday, November 8.

Activision has said that the pre-load begins at 9am PT in one blog post, and 10am PT in another. We've reached out for clarification, so just keep that in mind.

  • 9am PT
  • 12pm ET
  • 4pm UK
  • 5pm CET

Modern Warfare 3 official launch (multiplayer/Zombies) unlock times (PC only)

This is the big moment for Modern Warfare 3. The official, worldwide launch. All three components of the game will be available then for anyone who owns a copy. The big day is Friday, November 10. Here's exactly when servers go live.

  • 9pm PT (November 9)
  • 12am ET
  • 4am UK
  • 5am CET

Modern Warfare 3 official launch (multiplayer/Zombies) unlock times (PlayStation/Xbox)

The times above apply only to PC, whereas consoles will operate on what is referred to as a rolling launch, meaning it all depends on where you are in the world. The launch time varies by region, so there's a window of time on Thursday, November 9 when the game will gradually unlock for players.

Here's what that looks like:

  • 3am PT to 10pm PT.
There you go! | Image credit: Activision.

Modern Warfare 3 minimum PC specs

  • OS: Windows 10 64 Bit (latest update).
  • CPU: Intel Core i5-6600 or AMD Ryzen 5 1400.
  • RAM: 8GB.
  • Hi-Rez Assets Cache: Up to 32GB.
  • GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 960 / GTX 1650 or AMD Radeon RX 470
  • VRAM: 2GB.
  • Storage: SSD with 149GB available space (78GB if COD HQ and Warzone are already installed).

Modern Warfare 3 recommended PC specs

  • OS: Windows 10 64 Bit (latest update) or Windows 11 64 Bit (latest update).
  • CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K or AMD Ryzen 5 1600X.
  • RAM: 16GB.
  • Hi-Rez Assets Cache: Up to 32GB.
  • GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080Ti / RTX 3060 or AMD Radeon RX 6600XT
  • VRAM: 8GB.
  • Storage: SSD with 149GB available space (78GB if COD HQ and Warzone are already installed).

Modern Warfare 3 competitive / Ultra 4K PC specs

  • OS: Windows 10 64 Bit (latest update) or Windows 11 64 Bit (latest update).
  • CPU: Intel Core i7-8700K or AMD Ryzen 7 2700X.
  • RAM: 16GB.
  • Hi-Rez Assets Cache: Up to 64GB.
  • GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 / RTX 4070 or AMD Radeon RX 6800XT.
  • VRAM: 10GB.
  • Storage: SSD with 149GB available space (78GB if COD HQ and Warzone are already installed).

Keep in mind that Modern Warfare 3 requires driver version 537.58 for Nvidia GeForce owners, and 23.10.2 for AMD Radeon owners.

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