DMZ is the extraction shooter mode in Call of Duty. The official store description sets the loop out plainly: you operate as an off-the-books asset behind enemy lines, and every run into contested territory forces hard choices about which objectives to pursue, what to secure, and when to get out. The setting is Hajin, an irradiated exclusion zone where hostile forces, roaming bosses and rival Operators all occupy the same space. Exfil and you keep what you carried out. Fail to exfil and anything in your Backpack that is not sitting in a Secure Slot is lost. On timing, the official blog says Early Access to all of DMZ starts on Tuesday, October 20 for players who digitally pre-ordered or pre-purchased the game, and the Steam store page repeats the same date. The official footnote is worth reading: Campaign and DMZ Early Access start dates differ, and actual play time is subject to possible outages and applicable time zone differences. No hour-level start time has been announced. The full game releases on October 23 at midnight local time, while the Steam store page still lists October 22, and release date and time covers that split. This guide follows the questions people search for most: what DMZ is, whether it is PvE only, how you get in, what the FOB does, what comes home with you, and how to finish the night with video of the whole run. Everything here was checked against official Call of Duty news and the Steam store on October 17, 2026.
Decide four things before your first deployment
First, access. Early Access applies to players who pre-ordered or pre-purchased the Standard Digital Edition or the Vault Edition digitally on Steam. If you buy at launch instead, you start on October 23 with everyone else. Whether DMZ is also offered separately for free after launch is not stated in any official document we could find, so treat that as unannounced and watch official news. Second, hardware. DMZ is an online mode, and Activision support states that without TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot you are restricted from playing any online game mode in Modern Warfare 4, so check PC system requirements and the TPM rules before launch night. Third, solo or squad. The official description is explicit that you can deploy solo or with a squad: leave Squad Fill on at the Ready Up screen and two other players drop with you, turn it off and you go in alone. If you would rather run with people who play the same way, the approach in finding a duo or trio for extraction runs transfers directly. Fourth, playlist and infil. The Deploy menu offers Story Missions, Dynamic Operations and Free Roam. For Dynamic Operations and Free Roam you also pick how you arrive: Ground is free, the Polaris Dagor A1 costs 5,000, an LTV 25,000, a Helicopter 50,000 and a Cargo Plane 100,000 DMZ Cash, and only the Cargo Plane lets you choose an exact drop point in Hajin. Early on, go in on foot and take the Free Loadout at Ready Up, since you keep those items if you extract. One search question deserves a direct answer: DMZ is not PvE only. The official material describes rival Operator combat and a bounty system alongside the hostile forces, although the Ping Wheel does let you request a Truce or ask to assimilate with another squad.
From login to your first exfil
- 1Confirm your date and your accessIf you pre-ordered or pre-purchased a digital edition on Steam, DMZ opens for you on October 20. Because no start hour was announced, watch the official Call of Duty news feed and the in-game notices on the day. Finish your preload beforehand so you are not downloading while the servers come up.
- 2Learn only three FOB stations on day oneThe Forward Operating Base is where you sit between deployments, and it has more than a dozen stations. Three matter immediately: Operators (Active Duty), DMZ Orders and Stash/Loadout. You start with two Operator slots, each Operator levels their own Dog Tag, and DMZ Orders are the directives that teach the mode. Following Orders is enough for your first few runs. Each Operator climbs 18 Dog Tag levels, from Steel to Onyx III, earning one Trait Point per level, and once all 18 are earned you can Prestige that Operator for a random permanent Prestige Trait, up to three per Operator. None of this shares the 1-55 Multiplayer player level.
- 3Carry only what you can afford to loseYour Loadout returns with you after a successful exfil, but Backpack contents only survive if they sit in a Secure Slot. With no Backpack equipped you start on the Basic Pack with eight slots. Take the Free Loadout at Ready Up, since extracting means you keep it, and leave anything valuable in the FOB Stash where it cannot be taken.
- 4Pick the playlist that matches your goalStory Missions give you briefed objectives with set rewards that you can replay. Dynamic Operations drop you straight into one objective, and each completed Operation hands your squad a Supply Drop that rises in rarity. Free Roam has no mission at all, which the official guide recommends when you are looting printer ingredients, hunting Wanted Operators or clearing DMZ Orders.
- 5Read the three meters while you are deployedThreat level appears under the compass as you enter an area and rises as you fight, bringing heavier reinforcements until you break contact. The Hostiles Kill Count meter fills as you clear enemies, and a full meter sends a Hunt Squad after you and marks you for death. Time Remaining tells you when the radiation storm intensifies, which is your cue to move to an exfil.
- 6Set recording before you launch the gameIn DOR, decide resolution, frame rate and clip length before you start. Defaults are 1080p and 30fps, 60fps is selectable, and 1440p or higher and 120fps or higher are Pro features. Clip length defaults to 30 seconds with 15, 30, 45 and 60 available, so raise it to 60 if you want the whole exfil in one clip.
Modern Warfare 4 DMZ: the official facts (checked October 17, 2026)
| Topic | Official detail | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Early Access | Starts Tuesday, October 20 for digital pre-orders and pre-purchases of the Standard Digital or Vault Edition on Steam | No start hour published. The footnote warns about outages and time zone differences, so watch official news on the day. |
| Full launch | October 23 at midnight local time, with Campaign, Multiplayer and DMZ | The Steam store page lists October 22. Post-launch DMZ access rules have not been published. |
| Map and hazards | The Hajin exclusion zone. Each point of interest carries a Threat level from Low to Extreme, and a radiation storm intensifies on a timer | Watch the Time Remaining readout and pick an exfil point before conditions worsen. |
| Progression | A dedicated DMZ track, levels 1 to 70. DMZ XP also feeds the 1-55 player progression, but Multiplayer and Warzone XP do not feed your DMZ level | XP you earned still counts even if you fail to exfil. |
| FOB unlocks | 3D Printer at DMZ level 2 (crafts gear from looted resources and ingredients, and upgrades FOB stations), Boss Board after your second DMZ Order, Vendor at level 5, Gunsmith at level 10, Dog Tag Case at level 20 | The Stash starts at 40 items and 12 weapons, counted separately. |
| Edition difference | The Vault Edition starts with three Active Duty Operator slots instead of two and includes a DMZ Deployment Bonus | The Standard Edition unlocks an extra slot through DMZ level progression. |
Before your first run
- Confirmed a digital pre-order or pre-purchase on Steam and the October 20 start date.
- Checked that this PC meets the online requirements, including TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot.
- Decided whether Squad Fill stays on, and who you are running with if it does not.
- Planned a first deployment with the Free Loadout or gear you can afford to lose.
- Set resolution, frame rate and clip length in DOR, and checked that Call of Duty appears under Settings > Games.
- Left at least 30GB free on the drive where DOR saves recordings, so a recording is not cut short.
Keep the whole run, then cut out the moment
DOR is a free Windows desktop app. When a supported game starts, it records your whole session to mp4 from launch to exit, so the moment you finally extract, or the moment a rival squad takes everything off you, is already on disk even if you were not ready for it. That suits an extraction shooter, because the run where you lose the loot is the run worth watching. Which moments to keep is your call, and you mark them yourself. Press F8 right after an exfil or a wipe and DOR saves the segment that just happened, 30 seconds by default, with 15, 30, 45 and 60 to choose from. When a firefight runs longer than one clip, press F7 to start a screen recording of the whole monitor and F7 again to stop. The capture order and where files land are covered in how to save MW4 clips on PC. Long deployments stack up fast. The share of disk reserved for full-session video is 5GB by default, and only when that share is full does DOR clear the oldest sessions first, while the newest session and anything you liked are kept. You get a warning when free space drops below 30GB, and below 20GB recording will not start or will stop, so see recording files and storage space for MW4 for how to keep the folder lean. Clips you keep can be trimmed in the library to 16:9, 9:16 or 1:1, and finishing a trim requires signing in. Titles launched through Call of Duty HQ are detected automatically. If a new release does not appear in the list, check Settings > Games.
