Battlefield 6 Free Trial and Modern Warfare 4 Beta Both Go Live This Weekend

This weekend, FPS fans will not have to choose between the two biggest shooters on the calendar. Electronic Arts has confirmed that a Battlefield 6 free trial is now live, and the window lines up almost exactly with the first leg of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4's open beta.

According to EA's official Battlefield 6 news page, the free trial runs from August 18 through August 25. It launches alongside the Season 4 mid-season update, which adds the long-awaited Top Gun collaboration, including the return of Wake Island, an expanded Tsuru Reef, the new Carrier Strike game mode and a second Top Gun-themed mode, Fighter Sweep, that is already available in the free-to-play Redsec mode. That means the entire Top Gun event package is accessible during the trial.

On the other side of the schedule, Activision's official Modern Warfare 4 beta announcement lays out a two-weekend beta structure that kicks off with the Early Access window on August 21 and runs through August 25. The second, fully open Modern Warfare 4 beta weekend is scheduled to begin on August 28 across all supported platforms, including Nintendo Switch 2.

The August 18 to 25 overlap is the headline event for fans of both franchises. Anyone curious about Battlefield 6 can sample the Top Gun update at no cost before the Modern Warfare 4 beta begins in earnest on August 21, then jump straight into Activision's offering as the Early Access weekend opens.

Counter-programming between the two franchises is by now a familiar pattern. Last year, Black Ops 6 ran a week-long free trial that overlapped with Battlefield 6's launch week, and Battlefield 6 returned the favor shortly after the disappointing launch of Black Ops 7. Modern Warfare 4's first beta is set up to be unusually large, with a campaign mission playable for the first time in a Call of Duty beta alongside a packed lineup of maps and modes.

Players planning to try both should note that the Modern Warfare 4 Early Access window is open only to those who pre-ordered the game on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 or PC, while the August 28 weekend is open to everyone regardless of pre-order status. Battlefield 6's free trial does not require a pre-order and is available on the same platforms, with the new Top Gun content acting as the main hook for newcomers.