MW3 beta start time countdown – Modern Warfare 3 Xbox, PC and PS5 beta is NOW LIVE

If you’ve been waiting patiently, you’re probably wondering when is the MW3 beta start time? A PlayStation exclusive second weekend, including PC, Xbox and PlayStation, is now live and welcoming players to try Modern Warfare 3.

As happened with the previous MW3 beta weekend, it seems the servers are already live one hour before originally scheduled. There may of course be some technical issues as the servers spin up, so don’t be surprised if it takes a few attempts. However, we tried getting in on PlayStation and could immediately get into a game of the new Cutthroat mode right away.

Naturally, we’ve been getting stuck in, and you can find our MW3 beta first impressions right here – to get a feel of what we’ve made of the beta so far. The test comes ahead of the full Modern Warfare 3 release date in November. But if you’re here, it’s safe to assume you’ll want to know exactly when you can get your first taste of what’s expected to be the final chapter in the Call of Duty Modern Warfare trilogy. There’s a couple of days of early access, mainly for pre-orders and those who’ve obtained a code, followed by an open beta for everyone else before the game’s official launch.

Keep in mind that there’s a few ways to gain early access to the beta. If you want to learn what they are, then we recommend learning how to get and redeem a Modern Warfare 3 beta code. However, keep your eyes open, as more methods of entering the beta are sure to come to light as the beta rolls on.

Preamble out of the way, here’s everything we know about the MW3 beta start time, so you know the key dates when you can get playing.

Modern Warfare 3 (2023) beta start time – when does it begin?

The MW3 open beta will run across two beta weekends. The second weekend is an open beta period for all platforms and will begin at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST on Thursday, October 12, 2023 and will run until Monday October 16 for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, and PC with the addition of crossplay supported across all platforms.

The first weekend was exclusively for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 systems only, with the start time set for 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST on October 6, 2023. That ended at 10am PT/ 1pm ET / 6pm BST on October 10 – check out the full details of when does the MW3 beta end?

Here are those all-important beta dates and how these times break down per region:

Modern Warfare 3 (2023) beta start time US

All Platforms (Weekend 2)

• 10am PT on Thursday, October 12, 2023 (Early access – all platforms)
• 1pm ET on Thursday, October 12, 2023 (Early access – all platforms)
• 10am PT on Saturday, October 14, 2023 (Open Beta – all platforms)
• 1pm ET on Saturday, October 14, 2023 (Open Beta – all platforms)

PlayStation exclusive (Weekend 1)

• 10am PT on Friday, October 6, 2023 (Early access – PlayStation only)
• 1pm ET on Friday, October 6, 2023 (Early access –  PlayStation only)
• 10am PT on Sunday, October 8, 2023 (Open Beta – PlayStation only)
• 1pm ET on Sunday, October 8, 2023 (Open Beta – PlayStation only)

Modern Warfare 3 (2023) beta start time UK

All platforms (Weekend 2)

• 6pm BST on Thursday, October 12, 2023 (Early Access – all platforms)
• 6pm BST on Saturday, October 14, 2023 (Early Access – all platforms)

PlayStation exclusive (Weekend 1)

• 6pm BST on Friday, October 6, 2023 (Early access – PlayStation only)
• 6pm BST on Sunday, October 8, 2023 (Open Beta – PlayStation only)

Modern Warfare 3 (2023) beta start time EU

All Platforms (Weekend 2)

• 7pm CEST on Thursday, October 12, 2023 (Early access – all platforms)
• 7pm CEST on Saturday, October 14, 2023 (Open beta – all platforms)

PlayStation exclusive (Weekend 2)

• 7pm CEST on Friday, October 6, 2023 (Early access – PlayStation only)
• 7pm CEST on Sunday, October 8, 2023 (Open Beta – PlayStation only)

Modern Warfare 3 (2023) beta start time Aus

All Platforms (Weekend 2)

• 3am AEST on Friday, October 13, 2023 (Early access – all platforms)
• 3am AEST on Sunday, October 15, 2023 (Open beta – all platforms)

PlayStation Exclusive (Weekend 1)

• 3am AEST on Saturday, October 7, 2023 (Early access – PlayStation only)
• 3am AEST on Monday, October 9, 2023 (Open beta – PlayStation only)

Modern Warfare 3 (2023) beta start time NZ

All Platforms (Weekend 2)

• 5am NZST on Friday, October 13, 2023 (Early access – all platforms)
• 5am NZST on Sunday, October 15, 2023 (Open beta – all platforms)

PlayStation Exclusive (Weekend 1)

• 5am NZST on Saturday, October 7, 2023 (Early access – PlayStation only)
• 5am NZST on Monday, October 9, 2023 (Open beta – PlayStation only)

It is worth noting that, for this second weekend, PlayStation owners will be able to play the entirety of the second beta weekend and will not require a pre-order (or early access code) to get the early access period for weekend two. That’s because they’ve already had their exclusive time during weekend one. So you’ll be able to download and access the second weekend of the beta as soon as it begins if you have a PS5 or PS4.

For everyone else, the early access period begins two days before the full open beta periods. With this in mind, some players have had the chance to experience MW3 for a total of ten whole days (five on the first beta weekend, and five on the second beta weekend) for those who have been playing on PlayStation.

There’ll be seven maps and seven modes for the MW3 beta’s second weekend. They include everything from the beta’s first weekend, with the addition of Highrise and Orlov Military Base on the map side of things, with Search and Destroy and MW3’s brand new Cutthroat mode available to try for the first time during the second beta weekend.

During the first weekend, four maps were available from the off, with an additional map and mode added after a couple of days. For the first weekend, the maps were: Favela, Estate, Skidrow and the Ground War map: Popov Power. Rust joined the maplist on the Sunday. The modes in the first weekend started with Team Deathmatch, Domination, Hardpoint and Ground War, with Kill Confirmed joined the rotation on Sunday.

It looks like there’ll be a number of MW3 beta rewards to get during this MW3 beta, so it’s well worth your time taking part. However, the revealed MW3 beta reward operator skin hasn’t gone down well so far with fans. If you’re on PC and you want to be sure your system will run the beta, Activision has now revealed the MW3 beta PC system requirements. Then, best make sure you’re locked and loaded with our picks of the best controller settings for MW3 beta on PC, Xbox, PS5.

Activision held its annual CoD Next event a day before the pre-release phase began in order to provide closer looks at the new and exciting features included with MW3, such as its multiplayer modes, MW3 Zombies, as well as unveiling Warzone’s newest map and Warzone Mobile content.

The good news is that you won’t need Xbox Game Pass Core (FKA Xbox Live Gold) or PlayStation Plus to access the beta.

MW3 (2023) All Platforms beta start time countdown

If you want to see exactly how long it will be before the pre-release period begins, here are our countdown timers for both the PlayStation and all platform betas:

MW3 beta content – what’s included in the Modern Warfare 3 (2023) beta?

We now know what maps will be featured as part of the MW3 beta, thanks to a reveal earlier this week. The following five 6v6 maps (out of 16 from the full game) will be playable during the beta:

• Favela
• Estate
• Rust
• Skidrow
• Highrise (New for Weekend 2)

There’ll also be a Ground War map or two for those who want to try out the larger-scale mode.

• Popov Power
• Orlov Military Base (New for Weekend 2)

There was a bunch of modes in the beta including the following:

• Team Deathmatch
• Domination
• Hardpoint
• Kill Confirmed
• Ground War
• Cutthroat Mode (New for Weekend 2)
• Search and Destroy (New for Weekend 2)

Naturally, you’ll be able to get a better feel for all the available MW3 weapons throughout the course of the pre-release phase. You may even get to try out some of the MW3 vests and slide-boosting knee pads that the developers teased during their showcase. Of course, these aren’t the only things you can experience during the beta and early access, but these are some of the most significant features teased by Activision and Sledgehammer Games.

Much like the MW2 open beta phase, the latest installment’s pre-release period will only feature a slight teaser of the features you can expect at launch. As mentioned above, this includes access to five fan-favorite MW3 maps that were previously included in past entries, so hardcore CoD fans should enjoy the open beta nonetheless.

You’ll be able to download the beta itself from the Xbox Store and PlayStation Store on their respective platforms and via Steam, Battle.net, and the Microsoft Store on PC. Pre-ordering from your friendly local retailer won’t be the only way to get an early access beta code either. The official Call of Duty accounts have been doing a ton of giveaways and helpful routes into the beta. We’ve rounded up some of them in our guide here. However, those who pre-order will also get to enjoy seven days of campaign early access, so weigh up your options and check out our Modern Warfare 3 pre order guide.

That’s all you need to know for now on the Modern Warfare 3 beta start time. For more on the full release of Activision and Sledgehammer Games’ next CoD entry, check out our pages on MW3 price, MW3 Ground War mode, and the MW3 Vault Edition and if you’d like to get your hands on some MW3 beta rewards, we suggest you check those out as well.

MW3 beta start time FAQ

What time is the MW3 open beta over?

The first weekend of the MW3 beta ends at 10am PT/1pm ET/6pm BST on Tuesday, October 10. The second weekend of the MW3 beta ends at the same time, 10am PT/1pm ET/6pm BST on Monday, October 16.

Is the MW3 beta starting early?

There has been no official word from Activision of the MW3 beta starting early. However, it should be noted the PlayStation exclusive MW3 beta went live one hour earlier than scheduled, so the same may happen for the all formats one too.