Modern Warfare 4's Open Beta Is Faring Better, But Not By Much

Modern Warfare 4 Open Beta Is Only Just Doing Better Than Early Access Published Aug 30, 2026, 11:17 AM EDT George is the Lead News Editor for TheGamer, and has been working in the industry since 2021 after graduating from the University of South Wales with a bachelor's degree in Journalism. He has also previously written for RPG Site, WhatCulture, and PlayStation Lifestyle. George is an expert on platformers, action games, and fighters, but tends to play as many releases as possible. This hands-on experience lets him dive into gaming communities and follow the latest trends. Some of the games George has extensively covered first-hand include Dead Rising, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero, Assassin's Creed Shadows, and Ninja Gaiden 4. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4’s proper open beta has been going on this weekend, and its CCU on Steam has somewhat improved even if the reviews are still "Mixed". Last week, anyone who pre-ordered Modern Warfare 4 or managed to get their hands on a code was able to get early access to the game’s open beta. As we reported at the time, the playtest was a little rockier than expected, with it losing just under half of its concurrent player count in 24 hours and being hit with mixed reviews. As we said, some of that could be explained by the open beta only being accessible for certain players, although presumably the ones most likely to stick with it. This weekend’s actual open beta that anyone can access was the real test for Modern Warfare 4, and things are looking a little better even if there are still some of the same issues. Modern Warfare 4 Open Beta Numbers Have Improved A Little Reviews Are Still In Exactly The Same Mixed Place Image via the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 store page. The actual open beta for Modern Warfare 4 went live on Friday, and already kicked off a bit interestingly on Steam. As SteamDB shows, the open beta actually didn’t manage to reach a new CCU despite being available to more players, as it had an all-time peak of a little over 113,000 players compared to around 115,00 the week before. That’s only 2,000 less, sure, but it’s strange to see with a more open playtest. That being said, the beta is faring better overall, as it’s not lost anywhere near as many players in the same time frame, hitting nearly 100,000 in the last 24 hours. That’s much more stable than the 60,000 peak that last weekend’s beta had. As always, it’s worth remembering that this is just one platform we’re talking about here, although it’s the only one we actually see the numbers for. Even still, there is clearly a bit of a dropoff in player numbers for the beta, although nowhere near as noticeable as last time. In fact, I’d say that it’s pretty normal for a chunk of the player base to get their time in early and then taper out. The one thing that hasn’t changed, though, is the reviews. As of the time of writing, Modern Warfare 4’s open beta sits with a “Mixed” review score on Steam, with the same 45 percent negative reviews that we had last weekend. That suggests that player reception hasn’t improved all that much, with a lot of the same complaints that we reported on last week. All in all, things are a little better with Modern Warfare 4 this weekend, but the same issues are definitely still there in terms of player retention and feedback. Here’s hoping that it’s actually listened to in time for launch, as Modern Warfare 4 definitely has the potential to be one of the better Call of Duty games in recent memory. Triple-A Games Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 PC