This guide uses confirmed official information. Recommendations are practical starting points; live balance and availability should be checked in the game.
The confirmed schedule
Activision's official editions page states the game “launches worldwide on October 23, 2026”. Multiplayer ships with the full game on that date. Digital preorder benefits start earlier for Campaign on October 16 and DMZ on October 20 — neither is early multiplayer access.
What Activision has NOT published
This is the part most guides get wrong. Activision has never published a “midnight local time” quote or a per-region unlock table. Its PC guide only carries a footnote: “Actual Play Time Subject to Possible Outages and Applicable Time Zone Differences.” Anyone quoting a minute-by-minute regional schedule is quoting another site, not Activision.
Why Steam says October 22
Steam's listing shows “Oct 22, 2026”, which resolves to 22:00 PDT on October 22 — the same instant as October 23 for most of the world. It is a store metadata convention, not an earlier launch. Check your own store page for the countdown that applies to your account.
Launch-day checklist
Preload where available, update your platform client, confirm the correct edition is attached to your account and leave room for a launch patch. If the play button stays locked, restart the client and check the store listing before changing your system clock.
Where this information comes from
Reviewed October 21, 2026. Official details can change at launch.
