Modern Warfare 3 PC requirements and campaign early access start time revealed

Captain Price in a promotional image for Modern Warfare 3
(Image credit: Activision)

Those eager to dive into Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’s campaign on PC don’t have much longer to wait, as it’s now been confirmed that the campaign early access period starts on November 2 at 1pm ET / 10am PT / 5pm GMT / 4am AEDT. 

In a blog post published yesterday (30 October), it was revealed that PC preloads (available for those who’ve pre-purchased the game digitally) will begin on November 1 at 12pm ET / 9am PT / 4pm GMT / 3am AEDT. Meanwhile, preloads for the PC version’s full launch (complete with multiplayer and Zombies) will commence on November 8 at 12pm ET / 9am PT / 4pm GMT / 3am AEDT. 

If you’ve been wondering if your setup will be able to handle Modern Warfare 3, then fret not, as the full PC requirements have now been unveiled, too. The minimum specs vary slightly depending on whether you want to play multiplayer. Still, regardless, you’ll at least need the latest update of Windows 10 (64-bit), 8GB of RAM, up to 32GB hi-rez assets cache, 2GB of video memory, and a Nvidia GeForce GTX 960 / GTX 1650 or AMD Radeon RX 470. 

The only difference is that for multiplayer only, you’ll need an Intel Core i3-6100 or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 CPU, whereas for the full game, you’ll require an Intel Core i5-6600 or AMD Ryzen 5 1400. You’ll also need 79GB of storage space for the COD HQ launcher and multiplayer, but for the full game, you’ll require 149GB (assuming that you don’t already have COD HQ and Warzone installed). This exact storage requirement applies to the recommended and competitive/4K ultra specifications, too.

Speaking of the recommended specifications, these call for the latest update of Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit), 16GB of RAM, 8GB of video memory, and up to 32GB hi-rez assets cache. As for the CPU, you’ll need either an Intel Core i7-6700K or AMD Ryzen 5 1600X, and for the video card, a Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080Ti / RTX 3060 or AMD Radeon RX 6600XT will do the trick.

As for the competitive/4k ultra specifications, you’ll once again need either the latest update of Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit), and 16GB of RAM. However, you’ll also require at least 10GB of video memory and up to 64GB hi-rez assets cache, an Intel Core i7-8700K or AMD Ryzen 7 2700X CPU, and a Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 / RTX 4070 or AMD Radeon RX 6800XT video card.

Modern Warfare 3 is a direct sequel to Modern Warfare 2 (2022), so if you finished that campaign wondering what would happen next, we’ll soon have the answers.

Only time will tell if Modern Warfare 3 (2023) ends up being one of the best FPS games, but for now, be sure to check out our recommendations for the best multiplayer games on PC.

TOPICS
Catherine Lewis
News Writer, TechRadar Gaming

Catherine is a News Writer for TechRadar Gaming. Armed with a journalism degree from The University of Sheffield, she was sucked into the games media industry after spending far too much time on her university newspaper writing about Pokémon and cool indie games, and realising that was a very cool job, actually. She previously spent 19 months working at GAMINGbible as a full-time journalist. She loves all things Nintendo, and will never stop talking about Xenoblade Chronicles. 

Read more
A screenshot showing Naoe looking at the hidden blade in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Prep 107GB of space as Assassin's Creed Shadows preload and expected global release times are shared by Ubisoft
New Metal Gear Solid Delta screenshot from the State of Play stream.
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater's PC requirements confirm you'll need a high-end graphics card to run the game at its best settings
A screenshot showing the new map Bullet in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 2 will let you fight on a speeding bullet train in one of the coolest maps I've ever seen
A Hunter braces for impact as a herd of Doshaguma charge towards them
Monster Hunter Wilds beta 2 release date
Three Guardians run alongside each other holding weapons. The background shows a mining facility on a desolate rocky planet
Best FPS games 2025 - essential first-person shooters
Yasuke rides out, looking over a vibrant forest. A castle can be seen in the background.
Assassin's Creed Shadows requirements for PC and Mac guide
Latest in PC Gaming
Playing games on the Razer Handheld Dock Chroma without an external display.
The Razer Handheld Dock Chroma offers Steam Deck owners a premium design and, of course, plenty of RGB
Image of GTA 6 protagonists and PS5
GTA 6's console-only launch reminds me of how much I despise console exclusivity - is it worth waiting years for PC ports?
Image of Grand Theft Auto 6 promotional art and Corsair's PC cases
GTA 6 could reach PCs in early 2026 according to Corsair – but I'm already sick of waiting
An angry PC Gamer sat at their desk looking unhappy
Can’t buy an Nvidia RTX 5080 or 5090 GPU due to stock shortages? If you were hoping GeForce Now might provide a good alternative, we’ve got some bad news
Steam Deck controls close up
Steam Deck fans, you're in for a good one - AMD's FSR 3 frame generation is now available on Valve's handheld thanks to a new Decky plugin
NVIDIA GeForce NOW
Have RTX 5090 and 5080 stock rumors spooked PC gamers? Nvidia GeForce Now is facing high demand, with many plans now unavailable
Latest in News
Google Pixel 9
Android 16 could bring an improved Samsung DeX-style desktop mode to more phones
An Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Ti
Nvidia could unleash RTX 5060 and 5060 Ti GPUs on PC gamers tomorrow, but there’s no sign of rumored RTX 5050 yet
AI writing
ChatGPT just wrote the most beautiful short story, and I wonder what I'm even doing here
Project Moohan prototype at Samsung Galaxy Unpacked, an XR goggles headset on display in a show area
Samsung's Android XR headset could avoid the Apple Vision Pro's biggest mistake, according to this leak
Avast cybersecurity
UK cybersecurity sector could be worth £13bn, research shows
Rivian R1T
Big Rivian update delivers hands-off driving to rival Tesla Autopilot – and a new 'Rally' mode