Call of Duty Finally Offers a Demo: The MW4 Beta Includes a Full Campaign Mission

Somewhere along the way, this industry quietly killed the demo. You pay first - these days often 80 euros - and only later find out whether the game runs on your machine and whether the campaign is any good. Which is why this week's Call of Duty news is genuinely worth a look, even if you're allergic to the franchise.

Activision has detailed what's in the Modern Warfare 4 beta, whose first leg kicks off on Friday, and for the first time in the series' history it includes a full campaign mission - Entrenched, the one recently shown off in a short video. Call of Duty campaigns are normally kept under lock and key until launch day, so you buy the story sight unseen. Not this time.

The catch, and how to dodge it

The schedule splits into two phases. Early access runs from 21 to 25 August and requires a preorder - the usual FOMO lever, and I'd skip it. The open beta follows from 28 August to 1 September, free for everyone and on every platform, Nintendo Switch 2 included.

That second window is the interesting one. With no preorder and no payment you get multiplayer maps and modes plus a slice of the campaign, on your own hardware. If you've been wondering whether your ageing PC can handle the new engine, or how a full-fat Call of Duty actually behaves on Switch 2, this is the rare chance to check before any money changes hands.

I won't pretend this is charity. A beta is a marketing tool and a server stress test; Activision gets at least as much out of it as you do. But whatever the intentions, the result is the closest thing to a proper demo a full-price shooter has offered in years. And if publishers notice that letting people try the product doesn't hurt sales, maybe the habit spreads.

So my advice is boring but free: skip the preorder, wait the extra week, and treat the open beta as the demo it effectively is. Worst case, you lose one evening and your money stays in your pocket. That's a better deal than this industry usually offers.

Image: Activision/IW / Public domain, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Call_Of_Duty_MWII.jpg