Modern Warfare 4 Beta Patch Notes: What Infinity Ward Changed Before Launch

The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 beta ended on September 1 after two weekends of live updates. Infinity Ward’s final wrap-up says the studio changed weapons, time-to-kill, movement, spawns and more during the test, but it is still working on several of those systems before the October 23 launch.

That distinction matters. The final beta build was not presented as launch-final tuning. Infinity Ward specifically said it was not fully satisfied with TTK, that its beta aim-assist changes were not where it wanted them, and that some map-and-mode combinations still produced spawn problems.

The biggest Weekend Two changes

Weekend One established the direction. Infinity Ward reduced enemy footstep range and volume, adjusted weapons that were killing too quickly, brightened shadowed areas on Transit 213 and began revising spawn placement. Cachette and Lotus expanded the Core 6v6 map pool, while Kill Block added its changing modular layouts for Gunfight.

The August 28 Weekend Two update broadened that work:

• Every beta weapon received a tuning pass. Infinity Ward targeted a slightly longer TTK through weapon damage and range changes instead of raising base health.
• Spawns changed across respawn modes. The studio separated opposing players more aggressively, deprioritized squad-member spawns and tested more predictable Hardpoint logic.
• Temporary spawn protection gained Battle Hardened. That reduced flash and concussion effects immediately after a player appeared.
• Tactical Sprint stopped being a default action. The beta moved it to the Blood Rush perk, matched its sprint-to-fire time to standard sprint and reduced its speed by 4%.
• Sliding slowed down. Slide distance fell 10%, slide speed fell 9%, and the delay before jumping out of a slide increased.
• Aim assist was reduced. Infinity Ward described that pass as global to Multiplayer and Warzone, while warning that it was not the intended final setting.
• Killstreak costs increased by one kill. The UAV lost health and altitude, while the Artillery Beacon’s missile count and damage areas were reduced.

The Tactical Sprint setup was explicitly called a beta experiment. It should not be treated as the confirmed launch configuration unless Infinity Ward repeats it in launch patch notes.

Spawns improved, but Infinity Ward says they are not solved

The Weekend Two Hardpoint prototype aimed to make rotations more predictable. Infinity Ward warned at the time that smaller maps could still generate bad spawns and larger maps could place players too far from the action. Hardpoint was also temporarily disabled on Rooftops because of a spawn bug.

The September 1 wrap-up kept spawns on the launch-work list. The studio said Weekend Two made substantial changes but identified more problems in particular map-and-mode combinations. The correct takeaway is that spawn logic moved during the beta, not that the final update fixed it.

TTK and aim assist remain launch targets

Infinity Ward’s first-weekend weapon changes included lower headshot multipliers for the M4, Kastov 762, ISO Nightshade and Oris 8.6, plus range reductions for some weapons. Weekend Two then adjusted the entire beta arsenal to increase survivability without making every gun ineffective at distance.

Even after that pass, the studio said TTK and weapon tuning were still short of its launch target. It made the same qualification about aim assist. Both systems may therefore change again before release, and beta weapon values should not be used as guaranteed retail statistics.

What the concluded beta included

The second weekend raised the level cap to 30 and added Nintendo Switch 2, Ground War: Combat Outpost, the Lithium 6v6 map, Hijack mode and a Warzone Resurgence test on Zodiac. The test also included Entrenched, which Activision described as the first complete Campaign mission made playable in a Call of Duty beta.

Lotus was one of the Core 6v6 maps added during the test. Credit: Activision / Infinity Ward.

The mobility course demonstrated Mantle Slide, Mantle Momentum, Mantle Steering, Supine Slide, pipe climbing, Hang Shimmy, Hang Lean and directional Climbing Jumps. Those systems defined the beta’s grounded-but-flexible movement model, while the Weekend Two sprint and slide changes tested how quickly players could chain them in combat.

What Infinity Ward is still changing before launch

Infinity Ward’s September 1 list names five Multiplayer priorities:

1. further TTK and weapon tuning;
2. perk-tier changes intended to create more meaningful choices;
3. another aim-assist pass;
4. additional spawn improvements; and
5. Nintendo Switch 2 performance improvements.

The Warzone team separately identified UI and HUD readability, footstep audio, movement and overall map pacing as continuing work. Switch 2 beta performance should likewise not be read as the final retail result; Infinity Ward itself kept performance improvements on the post-beta list.

Modern Warfare 4 launches October 23 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC and Nintendo Switch 2. Campaign Early Access begins October 16 for eligible digital pre-orders. For the story and mission context revealed after the beta, our Modern Warfare 4 campaign trailer breakdown covers Price’s fugitive status and the conflict in Korea without folding that separate campaign intent into this multiplayer tuning record.