MW4 Season 1 starts November 6, 2026 at 12 a.m. ET. New Warzone maps Hajin and Zodiac, the Battle Pass, platform changes and what is still unconfirmed.
Modern Warfare 4 Season 1: Release Date, Start Time and New Maps
The short answer: Modern Warfare 4 Season 1 goes live on Friday, November 6, 2026 at 12:00 a.m. ET, which is 9:00 p.m. PT on November 5, on every supported platform. It is the update that fully integrates Warzone with Modern Warfare 4, adds the Hajin Battle Royale map and the Zodiac Resurgence map, and opens the Season 1 Battle Pass.
This page was checked against Activision's official channels on November 3, 2026, three days before launch. Nothing below has gone live in game yet. We will update the page on November 6 with the confirmed playlist, download size and patch notes once Activision publishes them.
MW4 Season 1 release date and start time
Activision has given one exact time, and it is the same for Modern Warfare 4 and Warzone: 0000 (midnight) ET on November 6, 2026, or 2100 PT on November 5. That is a single global unlock rather than a rolling regional launch, so the season begins at the same moment everywhere.
| Time zone | Season 1 start |
|---|---|
| Eastern Time (official) | 12:00 a.m. ET, November 6 |
| Pacific Time (official) | 9:00 p.m. PT, November 5 |
| UTC (converted) | 5:00 a.m. UTC, November 6 |
| UK (converted) | 5:00 a.m. GMT, November 6 |
| Central Europe (converted) | 6:00 a.m. CET, November 6 |
The ET and PT rows are Activision's own wording. The other rows are conversions from that same moment, not separately published times, so treat them as arithmetic rather than an announcement.
Two things people usually want at this point are not available. Activision has not announced a preload window for Season 1, and it has not published a download size for the update. If a preload does open, it will appear as a normal platform update on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC and Switch 2 — there is no separate Season 1 client to install.
What actually changes when Season 1 starts
This is not a normal seasonal content drop. Activision describes Season 1 as the point where Warzone, the free-to-play mode, becomes fully integrated with Modern Warfare 4. In practice that means one shared progression system instead of two parallel ones:
- Player level resets for the new season, and you level up across Multiplayer, DMZ and Warzone with the same XP bar.
- All 33 Modern Warfare 4 launch weapons are available in Warzone, plus the weapons added during the season.
- Weapons carry Weapon Prestige and Warzone-specific Mastery Camos, so camo grinding no longer stops at the MW4 mode boundary.
- Apex Attachments, Season 1 Operators, Daily Challenges, Calling Card Challenges and Battle Pass progress all run through the same account.
- Prestige is optional and sits on top of the shared level track rather than replacing it.
For anyone who has been playing MW4 since October 23, the important consequence is that Warzone stops being a separate game with a separate arsenal. The loadout you built in Multiplayer is the loadout you can take into Hajin. Our prestige and progression guide covers what the level reset means for unlocks, and the mastery camo guide explains how the shared camo tracks work across all three modes.
New maps: Hajin and Zodiac
Season 1 adds two new Warzone maps, and they are built for different modes.
Hajin is the new Battle Royale map and the first Warzone map set in Korea. It spans 13 major points of interest across the peninsula, with Hajin City as the dense urban centre and locations such as Imjin Farmland, the 14th Political Prison, Chang-san Air Base and Deadtown filling out the rest. Dynamic weather is switched on: clear skies, fog, wind, rain and distant storms can all change how a match reads. The new Gulag comes in two versions and resolves as a 1v1 for a redeploy.
Hajin is also a DMZ map, but the two versions are not identical. The Battle Royale edition uses a different edge circle and gas behaviour, the Hanuel Nuclear Reactor has no radiation cloud, and vehicle, interactable and loot spawns are tuned separately. If you already know the DMZ layout, the Hajin map guide is still the fastest way to learn the geography before the Battle Royale rules are layered on top.
Zodiac is the new Resurgence map. It is built around the DRC Advanced Systems drone assembly and manufacturing headquarters in Korea, and it is deliberately compact: 10 points of interest, including the Admin tower at the centre, the Trackline railway with moving trains, the Furnace industrial zone, Solar, Old Mines, Dispatch, Depot, Sentinel, Cooling and R&D. Expect factory interiors, research facilities, rooftops, underground tunnels and coastal terrain, plus interactables such as movable solar panels, furnace conveyors and explosive fuel barrels.
Verdansk and Rebirth Island are both marked as returning during Season 1 rather than at launch, so the launch map pool is Hajin and Zodiac. The roadmap does not give exact dates for the two returning maps beyond the in-season label.
Modes at launch and later in the season
At launch, Warzone runs Battle Royale and Resurgence, each with a Casual variant, plus a set of limited modes: Rally Point, Massive Resurgence and Loaded Resurgence. Mid-season adds Extreme Resurgence and Rockets and Snipers. Activision has not published the full playlist rotation or the dates each limited mode runs.
The mode list matters more than usual this year because the map pool is small at the start. Two new maps plus rotating limited modes is the entire launch offering until Verdansk and Rebirth Island come back later in the season.
New gear, perks and movement changes
Season 1 adds equipment that changes rotations rather than raw damage:
- Zipline Launcher creates a temporary zipline, giving squads a way up or across without committing to a ladder or a vehicle.
- Grabber Drone is a deployable drone used to grab and move things at range.
- Elite Perks add a second tier of Operator perks.
- Weapon Augments modify how a weapon behaves.
- Ground Ops brings new field objectives, including Surveillance Tower and Drone Intercept, with two more promised at launch.
- Grind for Royalty is the new progression-flavoured mode reward track shown on the roadmap.
Three systemic changes are worth flagging. Tactical Sprint no longer needs a perk, but every Operator gets a shorter sprint duration than the perk version used to give. Downed teammates can be dragged to cover before reviving. And Activision says visibility, readability and footstep audio have all been adjusted, with weapon balance changes shipping alongside the integration.
Weapons, Operators and the Battle Pass
The Battle Pass has 100+ rewards on a 100-tier linear track. A standard pass costs 1,100 COD Points; the bundle costs 2,400 COD Points and includes instant rewards plus a 10% Battle Pass XP boost. BlackCell, or the Vault Edition that contains it, includes the pass and its own exclusive Operator and Weapon Blueprint.
Season 1 also adds a catch-up system. If you own the premium pass and fall behind, the game grants rewards up to the tier that matches the current day of the season, capped at day 50. That is a floor, not a shortcut to the end of the track.
The season weapons are the Cronen Osprey assault rifle at Battle Pass Tier 16 and the CSG-35 submachine gun at Tier 36, with the JAK 12 shotgun and the ZLR Talonhawk melee weapon arriving later in the season. The two Season 1 Operators are Blix and the BlackCell-exclusive Agent XERO. The roadmap graphic advertises 30+ weapons and 26+ Operators as part of the Season 1 package once legacy content is counted.
The full Season 1 and Battle Pass page tracks the reward structure, BlackCell contents and Vault Edition timing in more detail. For the wider arsenal, the best weapons and loadouts guide ranks what is worth levelling first.
Platforms: Switch 2 arrives, PS4 and Xbox One leave
Warzone comes to Nintendo Switch 2 for the first time with Season 1. At the same time, Activision has confirmed that Warzone will no longer be playable on PlayStation 4 or Xbox One starting with this season. Progress is tied to your Activision account, so the move to a supported platform keeps your unlocks, but the old consoles stop receiving the mode entirely.
That makes Season 1 the first point where the full Warzone experience is current-gen only. If you are weighing a platform move, the crossplay and Game Pass guide covers account linking and what carries between platforms.
Carry forward: what comes with you
Content from Modern Warfare II, Modern Warfare III, Black Ops 6 and Black Ops 7 carries into Warzone at Season 1: Operators, skins, Blueprints, Calling Cards, Emblems, Finishing Moves, Emotes, Sprays, Parachutes and Contrails. Legacy weapons appear under a Legacy tab in the loadout and can be used, but they cannot be edited in Gunsmith and do not support Mastery Camos, Reticle Challenges, Weapon Customization, Cosmetic Gunsmithing or Build Sharing. Each legacy weapon arrives with a five-attachment build, and legacy Blueprints start locked until you unlock them with Player XP in the Armory.
There is also a new Operator Skin Toggle, Warzone-only, that lets you switch between an Operator's default look and a selected skin.
What Activision has not announced
To keep this page honest, these are the open items as of November 3:
- Preload start time and download size for the Season 1 update: not announced.
- Season 1 end date and the length of the season: not announced.
- The full Battle Pass reward list, including which tiers hold which skins: not published.
- Patch notes and weapon tuning values: not published for the Season 1 build.
- Exact dates for Verdansk, Rebirth Island, Extreme Resurgence and Rockets and Snipers: only described as in-season or mid-season.
- Full playlist rotation for the launch window: not published.
Anything with a specific number that is not in this list or in the official posts is speculation, including damage, RPM and TTK tables.
How this page will be updated
This is a preview page, published November 3, 2026, and it will be revised rather than replaced. On launch day the confirmed start time, playlist, download size and patch notes will be added here, and the "not announced" list above will shrink as Activision publishes each item. The last-updated date at the top of the page changes with every revision, so you can tell at a glance whether the information is from before or after the November 6 unlock.
For the state of the game before Season 1, the Modern Warfare 4 update tracker lists every patch since launch.
FAQ
What time does Modern Warfare 4 Season 1 start?
Season 1 starts at 12:00 a.m. ET on November 6, 2026, which is 9:00 p.m. PT on November 5. Activision has not published a separate preload time.
Is Modern Warfare 4 Season 1 out yet?
No. As of November 3, 2026 the season has not started. The unlock is November 6 at midnight ET, three days after this page was last checked.
What are the new maps in Modern Warfare 4 Season 1?
Hajin is the new Battle Royale map, set in Korea with 13 points of interest and dynamic weather. Zodiac is the new Resurgence map, built around a drone manufacturing headquarters with 10 points of interest and a working railway. Verdansk and Rebirth Island return later in the season.
Is Warzone free in Season 1?
Warzone remains free to play, but it becomes fully integrated with Modern Warfare 4: shared progression, the MW4 weapon arsenal and the same Battle Pass. It also drops PlayStation 4 and Xbox One and arrives on Switch 2.
How much is the Modern Warfare 4 Season 1 Battle Pass?
1,100 COD Points for the standard pass and 2,400 COD Points for the bundle, which adds instant rewards and a 10% Battle Pass XP boost. BlackCell and the Vault Edition include the pass.
Does Season 1 have a preload?
Activision has not announced a preload window or a download size for the Season 1 update. The update will download through the normal platform store when it is available.
Related Guides
- MW4 Season 1 Date and Battle Pass Rewards The original Season 1 page, now tracking Battle Pass tiers, BlackCell and Vault Edition timing.
- MW4 DMZ Hajin Map Guide Every point of interest, threat level and extraction route on the map coming to Battle Royale.
- MW4 Mastery Camo Guide How the shared camo tracks work across Multiplayer, DMZ and Warzone.
- MW4 Prestige and Progression What the Season 1 level reset means for Prestige and weapon unlocks.
Official source: Call of Duty: Warzone Season 1 - Everything You Need to Know Official source: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 and Warzone Season 1 announcement Official source: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 on Steam
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