The Modern Warfare 4 beta is over, and Infinity Ward now has just weeks to turn two weekends of player feedback into launch-day improvements. Ben Oliver from Tech Torque Media played both Multiplayer and the first Warzone Resurgence beta on Zodiac, giving us a first-hand view of what worked, what still felt rough and where the biggest questions remain before 23 October.
Infinity Ward used the beta as more than a promotional preview. Across both weekends, the studio made repeated changes to weapons, time-to-kill, movement, spawns, audio and aim assist, while Weekend Two expanded the test with more Multiplayer content and the first playable Call of Duty: Warzone mode ever included in a Call of Duty beta.
That makes the end of the beta useful in a way the opening weekend could never be. We now have Infinity Ward’s own list of priorities heading towards launch, alongside hands-on experience from within Tech Torque Media showing where those priorities line up with what we experienced in-game.
The core gunplay gives Modern Warfare 4 a strong foundation
The most encouraging part of Ben’s time with the beta was the core gunplay. Across the test, Modern Warfare 4 retained the weight and responsiveness expected from Infinity Ward’s side of the series, and that foundation remained one of its strongest qualities even while surrounding systems were being adjusted.
That matters because so much of the beta was in motion. Weapon lethality changed, movement values changed, spawns were adjusted and aim assist was reworked. Yet the basic act of moving into an engagement, aiming and firing still felt promising enough to suggest Infinity Ward has something solid to build around.
We previously noted that the Modern Warfare 4 beta could be one of Call of Duty’s most important public tests in years. Two weekends later, that assessment looks justified.
Warzone movement remains the biggest concern from our hands-on testing
For Tech Torque Media, the biggest concern coming out of the beta remains Warzone movement.
During Weekend Two, Tactical Sprint was moved away from being a default movement option and tied to the Blood Rush Perk, while standard sprint, slide and stamina behaviour were also adjusted. Infinity Ward said it wanted a more grounded and deliberate feel without losing the fluidity larger Warzone spaces need.
In Ben’s hands-on time with Zodiac Resurgence, that balance was not fully there. Warzone felt noticeably less fluid without default Tactical Sprint, particularly when rotating between fights, repositioning or trying to regain momentum after a squad engagement.
That concern was the centre of our Weekend Two hands-on report, and Infinity Ward’s final beta update suggests movement remains very much an open issue. The studio says it is reviewing feedback with the aim of delivering the fluid, responsive feel players expect from Warzone while still keeping movement grounded.
That is an important acknowledgement. The beta did not prove that the slower approach cannot work, but it did show that Multiplayer and Resurgence do not necessarily benefit from exactly the same movement philosophy.
Zodiac has potential, but pacing still needs refinement
The movement debate should not overshadow Zodiac itself. The new Resurgence map gave Weekend Two a very different test environment, with a mix of industrial spaces, vertical routes and varied engagements that showed plenty of potential during play.
But map design and movement are closely connected in Resurgence. A route that works well on paper can feel very different when the player’s ability to rotate quickly has changed. Infinity Ward now says it is evaluating overall map pacing before launch, which is exactly the right area to examine after the beta.
We previously covered why it was significant that Warzone was entering a Call of Duty beta for the first time. Zodiac demonstrated the value of doing that. Feedback gathered from 6v6 Multiplayer alone would not have revealed how the same underlying movement direction feels once it is dropped into a faster, rotation-heavy Resurgence match.
Stability still needs work before launch
The other clear issue from Ben’s testing was stability. Multiplayer crashed several times during the Open Beta sessions he played.
A beta is exactly where crashes should be found, reported and fixed, so their presence is not automatically a warning sign for the finished game. Infinity Ward’s running official beta patch notes show just how many bugs and performance issues were being worked through during the test.
Even so, stability has to improve substantially before release. Players will judge the final game on what ships on 23 October, not on how understandable a crash was during a public test.
Infinity Ward has already named its post-beta priorities
The encouraging part is that Infinity Ward is not presenting the beta build as a finished answer. In its closing update, the studio highlighted several Multiplayer areas it intends to keep working on before launch.
- Further time-to-kill and weapon tuning.
- Changes to Perk tiers to create more meaningful choices.
- Additional aim-assist adjustments.
- More spawn improvements, particularly for specific map and mode combinations.
- Nintendo Switch 2 performance improvements.
Infinity Ward says it is still not fully satisfied with TTK despite the changes made during the beta. That is significant because weapon lethality was one of the systems adjusted repeatedly across the two weekends rather than being left untouched until launch.
For Warzone, the post-beta list is equally important. UI and HUD readability are being reviewed, audio — especially footsteps — remains a major focus, movement is still under evaluation and Zodiac’s overall pacing is being assessed.
Those priorities closely match the areas where a beta can be most useful: not just obvious bugs, but systems whose quality depends on how millions of real players interact with them.
The beta changed enough to feel like a real test
One of the strongest things Infinity Ward did across the two weekends was make visible changes while people were still playing. Weekend One feedback fed directly into Weekend Two adjustments to TTK, movement, spawns, killstreaks and aim assist, while Warzone audio and interface issues were also being tuned during the Open Beta.
That gave players a chance to compare different versions of the same systems rather than submit feedback into a black box and wait until release. It also makes our earlier Early Access beta wrap-up useful context: many of the questions raised after Weekend One became live experiments during Weekend Two.
The test also broke new ground for the franchise. Infinity Ward included a playable Campaign mission during the beta, while Zodiac gave players the first Warzone beta experience. Those additions made this a broader test of the overall Modern Warfare 4 package than a conventional multiplayer preview.
What happens between now and 23 October matters more than the beta scorecard
There is little value in treating a beta like a finished review. The important question is whether Infinity Ward now acts on what the test exposed.
The studio has already identified many of the right areas. TTK is not settled. Aim assist is not settled. Spawn behaviour still needs work. Warzone movement is being reviewed. Footstep audio and HUD clarity remain active priorities. That is a substantial list, but there is still time for meaningful tuning before launch.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 launches globally on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, PC and Nintendo Switch 2 on 23 October 2026. The official beta page describes the test as a way for players to provide feedback ahead of the Day One experience; the next several weeks will show how much of that feedback makes it into the finished game.
Tech Torque Verdict
The Modern Warfare 4 beta leaves us more encouraged by the game’s foundations than convinced by every design decision.
The gunplay gives Infinity Ward a strong base, Zodiac has real potential and the studio’s willingness to make meaningful changes during the beta was a positive sign. But Ben’s hands-on testing also exposed genuine rough edges: Multiplayer crashes need to be eliminated, and Warzone still needs a better balance between grounded movement and the fluid pace Resurgence demands.
Most importantly, Infinity Ward appears to recognise those issues. The beta has done its job by creating clear priorities. What matters now is what changes between the end of the test and 23 October.
