Modern Warfare 4 Season 1 Launch: What Is New

Quick answer: Modern Warfare 4 Season 1 is live. It started at midnight ET on Fri 6 Nov 2026, which is 9pm PT on Thu 5 Nov 2026. Warzone now runs on Hajin, the new Battle Royale map, and Zodiac, the new Resurgence map. Warzone also launched on Switch 2 for the first time. Multiplayer gets Backstab, Canyon and a reimagined Shoot House, DMZ gets the X01 facility, and every player level resets to 1. Verdansk and Rebirth Island do NOT return on day one. They come back later in Season 1.

Season 1 at a glance

Item	What happened
Launch time	Midnight ET Fri 6 Nov 2026, 9pm PT Thu 5 Nov 2026, 05:00 UTC Fri 6 Nov 2026
Warzone Battle Royale map	Hajin, 13 points of interest, Korean Peninsula
Warzone Resurgence map	Zodiac, 10 points of interest, DRC drone factory
Warzone on Switch 2	Launched with Season 1, first time on the handheld
Warzone on PS4 and Xbox One	Ended with Season 1
Player level	Reset to level 1 for all players, with Prestige across Multiplayer, DMZ and Warzone
Weapons in Warzone	All 33 Modern Warfare 4 launch weapons, plus Season 1 additions
Multiplayer maps	Backstab, Canyon, reimagined Shoot House
DMZ	New X01 facility, new bosses and orders
Battle Pass weapons	Cronen Osprey assault rifle, CSG-35 SMG
Verdansk	Returns later in Season 1, NOT at launch
Rebirth Island	Returns later in Season 1, NOT at launch

• Season 1 is a free content update across Modern Warfare 4 and Warzone.
• The launch time is the same on all platforms, per the official Call of Duty blog.
• This post was written after launch, so the launch is reported as live, not upcoming.

Modern Warfare 4 Season 1 Warzone: Hajin and Zodiac

Hajin is the new large Battle Royale map. It takes Warzone to the Korean Peninsula for the first time, in the same region as the Modern Warfare 4 campaign and DMZ. The map has 13 major points of interest, from Hajin City streets to Imjin Farmland, rivers, forests and North Korean sites such as Chang-san Air Base and Deadtown. Weather changes during matches, with fog, wind, rain and distant storms. Hajin also has a new Gulag with two variants.

Zodiac is the new Resurgence map. It is a compact fight built around the DRC Advanced Systems drone assembly and manufacturing headquarters in South Korea. It has 10 points of interest, including Admin, Trackline, Furnace, Solar, Old Mines, Dispatch, Depot, Sentinel, Cooling and R and D. Moving trains run on a double railway at Trackline, and underground tunnels let squads move under the map.

• Hajin is Battle Royale. Zodiac is Resurgence. Both are live from the start of Season 1.
• Launch modes include Battle Royale and Resurgence, with Casual variants, plus Rally Point, Massive Resurgence and Loaded Resurgence.
• Mid-season modes add Extreme Resurgence and Rockets and Snipers.
• Verdansk returns later in Season 1 with new landmarks, including the Signal Station, the Grazna-7 Launch Complex and Drone Labs. Rebirth Island also returns later in Season 1. Neither is a day one map.

Modern Warfare 4 Season 1 Warzone on Switch 2, and the end for PS4 and Xbox One

Warzone launched on Nintendo Switch 2 at the start of Season 1. It is the first time the free to play game is on the handheld, and it includes Hajin, Zodiac and the other maps and playlists. At the same time, Warzone is no longer playable on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One from Season 1 onward. Progression carries over to a supported platform if you log in with the same linked Activision account.

• Switch 2 players get the full Season 1 Warzone update, not a cut down version.
• PS4 and Xbox One players need a supported platform to keep playing Warzone.
• Modern Warfare 4 itself was already current generation only, with no PS4 or Xbox One version.

Modern Warfare 4 Season 1 multiplayer maps and DMZ X01

Season 1 adds three multiplayer maps at launch. Backstab is a new medium 6v6 map in a snowbound, war damaged town with abandoned tanks. Canyon is a new medium 6v6 map between tall rock walls, with a river route, a cliff path and a central mesa. Shoot House returns reimagined in North Korea under light snow, keeping its three lane layout. Returning modes at launch include Grind and Drop Zone.

DMZ gets X01, an underground weapons facility beneath Hajin, a former GRANIT Arms black site seized by North Korean forces. It has cargo bays, vehicle depots, underground labs, production lines, tunnels and a sealed Deep Vault. A new boss, The Captain, appears there, and players collect sections of a juggernaut helmet for greater rewards on a successful exfil.

• The two Battle Pass weapons are the Cronen Osprey assault rifle and the CSG-35 SMG.
• Cronen Osprey is a 5.56 assault rifle at Battle Pass tier 16, firing 882 rounds per minute.
• CSG-35 is an SMG at Battle Pass tier 36, firing 1,200 rounds per minute, the fastest in its class.
• Season 1 also adds new gear in Warzone, the Zipline Launcher and the Grabber Drone, plus Elite Perks, Weapon Augments and pushable cover.
• Tactical Sprint is now available to all Operators without a Perk, with a slightly shorter duration.

Modern Warfare 4 Season 1 Steam player counts this week

All counts below are Steam only. Activision does not publish PlayStation, Xbox, Battle.net or Switch player counts, so there is no official cross platform total. The Call of Duty Steam app is shared, so its number covers Modern Warfare 4, Warzone and other Call of Duty titles in the same install. Treat it as an upper bound for Modern Warfare 4 alone, not an MW4 only count. Counts checked Fri 6 Nov 2026, about 06:42 UTC, which is 11:42 PKT.

Game	Playing now	24 hour peak	Trend
Call of Duty app (Modern Warfare 4 and Warzone)	123,475 at 00:45 UTC 6 Nov	133,958 on 5 Nov	Daily average down 19 percent over 7 complete days, 135,971 on 30 Oct to 110,147 on 5 Nov
ARC Raiders	43,330 at 04:15 UTC 6 Nov	62,071 on 5 Nov	Daily peaks falling all week, 95,281 on 1 Nov to 62,071 on 5 Nov
Phantom Blade Zero	About 383,000 when GameWatcher checked on 6 Nov	All time peak 833,921 on 1 Nov	Still far above its launch week daily levels for a single player game

• The Call of Duty app peaked at about 227,000 concurrent Steam players at launch on 24 Oct 2026. The 5 Nov peak of 133,958 is about 41 percent below that launch peak.
• Twitch is not a player count. Modern Warfare 4 had 70,580 Twitch viewers across 2,308 live channels at 00:45 UTC 6 Nov, with a 24 hour viewer peak of 78,488. Viewers are people watching, not people playing.
• ARC Raiders averaged 74,421 concurrent Steam players over the last 30 days, and its 30 day peak was 185,443 on 11 Oct 2026. Its daily peaks have fallen for five straight days, but the game is still well above its summer levels.
• Phantom Blade Zero sold more than 4 million copies in its first 72 hours, developer S-GAME announced on 2 Nov 2026. Its Steam peak of 833,921 on 1 Nov 2026 is the highest for a single player game released on Steam in 2026, and its Steam reviews sit at 90 percent positive, rated Very Positive, as of 4 Nov 2026.

What to play first in Season 1

• Start with Hajin if you play Battle Royale. Learn the 13 points of interest before you chase hot drops, because the map is larger than anything Warzone has used recently.
• Start with Zodiac if you play Resurgence. The trains and tunnels change rotations, so play a few Casual matches first.
• Do not buy the Battle Pass for the weapons alone until you try them. Cronen Osprey unlocks at tier 16 and CSG-35 at tier 36, both on the free track.
• If you only play competitive multiplayer, read our verdict first. Our Modern Warfare 4 decision guide says wait for Season 1 feedback before buying for multiplayer only.
• If you are on PS4 or Xbox One, Season 1 is the cutoff. Warzone no longer runs on those consoles.

Related guides

• Is Modern Warfare 4 Worth Playing in 2026?
• Modern Warfare 4 Best Settings for Max FPS (2026)
• Modern Warfare 4 Beginner’s Guide: 10 Multiplayer Tips
• Modern Warfare 4 Review Roundup, What the Critics Say
• ARC Raiders Best Settings and Beginner Tips (2026 Guide)
• Phantom Blade Zero Best Settings for Max FPS

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