The first free content drop for Modern Warfare 4 brings three new 6v6 maps, a brand new DMZ facility, four new weapons and the full Warzone integration. Here's everything, in one place.
Modern Warfare 4 has been out for about a week, and Activision already has the first big season locked and loaded. Call of Duty laid out the full Season 1 briefing on October 28, and Xbox Wire shared it the same day. Here’s what’s coming, when, and what it costs.
The key facts
- Launch time: Season 1 goes live at 12:00 AM ET on Friday, November 6 (9:00 PM PT on Thursday, November 5), per MW4.GG’s breakdown of the official post.
- Price: free content update. The Battle Pass is optional (details below).
- Warzone: MW4 integrates with Warzone in Season 1. Hajin (Battle Royale) and Zodiac (Resurgence) join, and Verdansk and Rebirth Island return. The full Warzone roadmap lands Monday, November 2.
- DMZ: a brand new zone, X01, on the northern edge of Hajin.
Multiplayer: new maps and modes
Three new 6v6 maps arrive on day one of the season, per MW4.GG:
- Backstab: medium snow map. Wrecked town, abandoned tanks, long streets, and interiors for close fights.
- Canyon: medium map with rock walls, a river, a convoy ambush and a cliff path.
- Shoot House: the classic three-lane layout, moved to North Korea in light snow, with Junkyard, Center tunnels, Containers, and a fight for the Hospital and Apartment overlooks.
The pre-season is already rolling:
| When | What |
|---|---|
| October 27 | Shipment (Russian harbor version), already live |
| October 29 | Possession, new pre-season mode |
| October 30 | Infected |
| November 6 | Backstab, Canyon, Shoot House, Kill Block: Crash, Grind, Drop Zone, Gauntlet 1v1 |
| Mid-season (Reloaded) | Ministry, Overflow, more classified maps and modes |
How the new modes work:
- Grind: score by banking dog tags. Both teams can use either bank, and you drop every tag you’re carrying when you go down.
- Drop Zone: one rotating objective, with killstreak crates dropping on it.
- Gauntlet 1v1: the launch limited-time Gunfight playlist, part of the Wager Match event.
- Kill Block: Crash: a static three-slab layout on Kill Block, picked from popular Beta layouts. It also shows up in Core playlists like Search and Destroy.
DMZ: welcome to X01
The headline for DMZ players is X01, a former GRANIT Arms black site taken over by North Korean forces, per MW4.GG. Think cargo bays, vehicle depots, underground labs, a sealed Deep Vault and a maze of tunnels. Ghost is your Watcher and talks the squad through it.
- Gear found deep in X01 is described as unavailable anywhere else.
- The facility closes exfil points, so getting out is part of the run.
- New base pieces: a Battle Pass and store station, a BlackCell vendor that sells extra weapons and gear for DMZ Cash, and a Boss Board with intel on lieutenants Tae-Hyun (“Knuckle”) and Chol-Min (“The Wrench”).
- Named commanders so far: The Captain, a Juggernaut with an elite guard, and an autonomous patrol.
- Early events: Threat Briefing (strip parts off a North Korean tank and pull pieces of The Captain’s helmet) and Resupply Run (trade loot for self-revives and 3-plate carriers).
Four new weapons
| Weapon | Type | How you get it |
|---|---|---|
| Cronen Osprey | Assault rifle (5.56) | Free on the Battle Pass, tier 16 |
| CSG-35 | SMG, 1,200 RPM, built for under 20 meters | Free on the Battle Pass, tier 36 |
| JAK-12 | Full-auto breaching shotgun | In-season event |
| ZLR Talonhawk | Combat axe (melee) | In-season event |
The Wager Match event also hands out conversion attachments: Hyeon Auto (makes the Hyeon Burst fully automatic), Kastov 545 (chambers the Kastov 762 in 5.45), and the M16 Burst kit for the M4. The TT Iron Guard Kit for the .50 GS and a ChainSAW grip for the FiNN LMG are also on the way, per Dot Esports.
Battle Pass and BlackCell: what it costs
- Battle Pass: 100 tiers. Premium is 1,100 COD Points, or 2,400 for the bundle.
- Catch-up: buy late and the pass moves you up to the reward for the current day of the season, through day 50.
- Instant unlocks: a 10% Battle Pass XP boost, the Downpour skin for Blix, and a few blueprints and stickers. Tier 100 is Bellum, an ultra Mosin-Nagant blueprint.
- BlackCell: new operator XERO, plus BlackCell skins and blueprints. Vault Edition owners get this season’s BlackCell track, and Digital Standard owners can upgrade to Vault. If you upgrade to BlackCell after buying the pass, you get your 1,100 COD Points back.
All of the above is from MW4.GG’s summary of the official briefing.
Warzone: what we know before November 2
Dexerto lists what’s been confirmed so far for the Warzone side:
- All of MW4’s weapons and Operators come over, plus the four new Season 1 weapons.
- Weapons from MW2 through Black Ops 7 can only be used with default attachments and Blueprints.
- Operators from MW2 through Black Ops 7 carry forward, with a toggle to show only MW4 skins.
- A “Server Culling” feature aimed at stopping wallhacks.
- Avalon leaves when Hajin and Zodiac arrive.
- The Xbox One version of Warzone will no longer be playable.
OnPoint’s take: This is a strong first season, and the timing is perfect. MW4 hits a week in, the DMZ crowd gets a whole new facility to crack, and Verdansk coming back is going to pull a lot of people back in. Warzone dropping last-gen is the right call too. Series X and PC players have been carrying old hardware long enough, and Server Culling going after wallhacks is exactly what this game needs. And all of it is free for anyone who owns the game, which is how a season should start. See you in X01.
Sources
- Xbox Wire: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 and Call of Duty: Warzone Season 1: All You Need to Know (Oct 28, 2026)
- MW4.GG: Modern Warfare 4 and Warzone Season 1: All You Need to Know (Oct 28, 2026)
- Dot Esports: MW4 Season 1 roadmap
- Dexerto: Warzone Season 1 update
- Call of Duty on X: Season 1 announcement
Image: Activision / Call of Duty
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