Until yesterday, everything we knew about the Modern Warfare 4 Open Beta mode lineup came from press write ups of the reveal. Activision closed that gap on August 26 with an official Weekend Two content post on callofduty.com. It is the first time the beta's mode list has been published by the people who built it, and Search and Destroy is on it.
Official. The mode and map list comes straight from Activision's own Open Beta post on callofduty.com, published August 26, with the beta patch notes and IGN's guide lining up on the same mode set. What is still not official anywhere: a Hardcore playlist. Seven modes are named and none of them is Hardcore.
What the official list actually names
- Seven Core 6v6 modes Team Deathmatch, Domination, Hardpoint, Kill Confirmed, Search and Destroy, Inflation and Hijack. Inflation and Hijack are both new to the franchise.
- Six Core 6v6 maps Rooftops, Silkworm, Transit 213, Cachette, Lotus and Lithium. Weekend One only ever had five of them live at once.
- Kill Block Gunfight in both 3v3 and the 10v10 variant. The 10v10 version was pulled during Weekend One and the patch notes say it returns for Weekend Two.
- The window August 28 at 10:00 AM PT to September 1 at 10:00 AM PT, free on all six platforms, no pre-order and no beta code.
- The kit Level cap 30, 19 Multiplayer weapons, 18 Perks, 17 Killstreaks, 9 Tacticals, 11 Lethals and 11 Field Upgrades.
Why Hardcore SnD cares
This is the last free look at bomb rounds before launch. Weekend One was gated behind a pre-order or a Nitro code and capped at Level 20, which meant most of the equipment that decides a Search and Destroy round was never on the field. Weekend Two removes both gates: anyone can download it, and the ladder runs to 30. Four days is a short window to build map knowledge on five new layouts, so treat it like a scrim block, not a lobby.
- Six maps, four days Rooftops, Silkworm, Transit 213, Cachette, Lotus and Lithium are all new. Split the weekend by map and log plant approaches rather than chasing a level.
- Full equipment for the first time Heartbeat Sensor, Ghost, Trip Wire and Smoke Wall all sit above Level 20, so every site read from Weekend One was formed with half a kit.
- Two unknown modes Hijack is a plant and defuse mode with a carried Data Spike. It is not Search and Destroy, but the defuse race is close enough that the timings are worth learning.
Seven modes are named in Activision's own post. None of them is Hardcore.
What is not confirmed
No Hardcore playlist. Not in the official post, not in the patch notes, not in IGN's guide. Every Search and Destroy reference in the beta is the Core variant, which means the mode our whole operation runs on still has no announced presence in Modern Warfare 4 before launch. Hardcore has historically arrived after a beta rather than inside one, so its absence here is not evidence it is cut. It is evidence that nobody outside Infinity Ward has tested one life bomb rounds on this build.
The official post lists all six Core maps for the Open Beta, Lotus included. IGN's beta guide, updated the same day, lists Lithium in its Weekend Two map set and drops Lotus. Activision's own page outranks a running guide, but do not be surprised if the Friday rotation is five maps and not six.
The other open item is the update Infinity Ward promised. The studio said the detailed changes to spawns, time to kill and movement would land in patch notes before Weekend Two opens. As of this writing the patch notes page still tops out at Tuesday, August 25. Anything you conclude about pace on Friday morning is a conclusion about an unpatched build.