Call of Duty Modern Warfare 4 early beta access locked behind worst subscription service

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 (2026) has failed to impress so far, and it’s not surprising given the disappointment of the third game.

It’s a shame because the rebooted series started off so strongly. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) was great fun and a must-play title on Xbox Game Pass if you’re getting into the franchise for the first time, or returning from a long hiatus.

Nevertheless the next Call of Duty game is-a-coming. It’s inevitable, and its latest unconfirmed partnership is reportedly offering early-access to the free beta if you’ve got the right subscription.

According to WumpusCentral, but shared by Charlieintel, those with a Discord Nitro subscription will be able to play the beta before anyone else.

Admittedly this is a bit of an odd offering. You’d expect Xbox Game Pass subscribers to get first dibs considering Xbox owns Activision.

For one reason or another though, early-access will instead be granted to anyone unlucky enough to have Discord Nitro. It’s notoriously one of the worst subscription services going as it locks features that used to be free behind a paywall, like large file sharing and higher-quality streaming.

That said, if you’re keen to check out the new Call of Duty game that subscription might finally come in handy, and if you’re not yet subscribed there’s usually a 3-month trial being handed out for new subscribers.

Discord Nitro now also comes with a starter tier for Xbox Game Pass at no additional cost. In exchange, some Nitro membership perks are offered as free add-ons for Game Pass subscribers, but you don’t get a fully-fledged Discord subscription to go with it.

Basically, your Xbox Game Pass membership won’t be used to claim this Call of Duty offer, which again is weird.

READ NEXT: October 2026 is Broketober: Every major video game release confirmed

Call of Duty fans are understandably outraged

The reaction to this deal from fans has been overly negative, which is to be expected. Many replied to Charlieintel’s post to complain about it being an exclusive Discord Nitro deal, and the state of Call of Duty in general.

“Since when does discord get to gatekeep beta access a month before launch” said E0_DS0_Omega, “open beta is 3 days later anyway so nitro subscribers are paying for a long weekend.”

“This don’t make any sense,” added KingDrewskiSosa, “Xbox GamePass Ultimate members can’t get this but Discord Nitro members can? This game is gonna f****** flop hard I tell you.”

Keep in mind that this hasn’t been confirmed by Activision or Discord yet, so take it with a pinch of salt.

If it does turn out to be true, fans will undoubtedly be unhappy all over again, but not as unhappy as they’ll be when Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 actually launches.

The previous Call of Duty game left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth, so Modern Warfare 4 has some heavy-lifting to do if it wants to win back favour.