Modern Warfare 3 Campaign Early Access: Release Date & Preload Details

Modern Warfare 3 Campaign Early Access will start on November 2 and also get a preload. We will explain when the preload is available and how big the campaign download will be.

MW3 Crash Site
The crash site of the plane shown at the end of the MW2 campaign will be one of the new open combat missions. | © Activision

Modern Warfare 3 will be released on November 10, but everyone who pre-ordered the game will get Campaign Early Access as early as November 2. If you don't want to miss out on anything at launch, you should make sure to play the campaign before the full release. After all, we don't have time for the campaign when the MW3 multiplayer goes live and we start leveling all the weapons...

So let's take a look at when the Campaign Early Access will start, when the preload will be available and how big the campaign download will be.

MW3 Campaign Early Access: Release Date

The Campaign Early Access will start a week before the full release on November 2 at 10am PT (1pm ET / 6pm BST / 6pm CET). Campaign Early Access is available on all platforms and for all editions of the game. All you have to do to be able to play the Modern Warfare 3 campaign early, is pre-order any edition of MW3.

MW3 Campaign Ghost
The MW3 campaign will of course feature Ghost again. | © Activision

MW3 Campaign Early Access: Preload & Download Size

As with all bigger Call of Duty updates, there will be a preload available for the Campaign Early Access. The preload will start on November 1 at 10am PT (1am ET / 6pm BST / 6pm CET). As for the download size, you will again need a ton of free disk space. All in all, MW3 takes up around 140 GB on your console, however this is split up and if you already have a previous CoD installed, the download size decreases dramatically.

The download is split into three parts:

  • Call of Duty HQ: 85 GB
  • Campaign Pack 1: 18 GB
  • Campaign Pack 2: 33 GB

The MW3 campaign alone will take up 50 GB and you need to have the Call of Duty HQ installed to play it, which is another 85-90 GB. The Call of Duty HQ is a base App that includes Warzone and DMZ and serves as a Hub for Modern Warfare 2 and Modern Warfare 3. Also, keep in mind that the multiplayer and Zombies mode at launch will probably add a few more GBs, so that MW3 will most likely take up significantly more space than 140 GB.

If you want to figure out the PC system requirements, we also got you covered. Have you already pre-ordered Modern Warfare 3 or are you waiting for the first reviews? If you are interested, we already played the beta and wrote a review about the PS5 version.

Lukas Ballat

Lukas has been passionate about shooters his whole life and at EarlyGame he teaches you everything about CoD, while also taking care of campaigns and partner projects. He also plays Souls-likes and doesn't shy away from the Diablo-grind either....