CoD Beta's First-Ever Campaign Mission Is a Handheld Hook

Call of Duty has never put a campaign mission in a beta. That changes with Modern Warfare 4, which will include the full ‘Entrenched’ mission in its upcoming beta. But the bigger story for handheld players is where that beta lives: the second weekend, starting August 28, includes the Switch 2 — a major first for the franchise on a Nintendo handheld.

For handheld players, this is a double first: a portable CoD beta with a campaign mission, playable without pre-order. It’s also a smart recruitment tool — one mission is perfectly sized for a commute, and it gives fence-sitters a way to judge the game’s feel before the October 23 launch.

A Single Mission, Perfectly Sized for Portable Play

The ‘Entrenched’ mission is a self-contained slice of the campaign. On a handheld, that counts for a lot: you can boot it up, play for a few minutes, and suspend the system mid-mission. It’s the same logic that makes so many games shine on the Switch 2 — but here it’s applied to a AAA military shooter. Activision is clearly hoping a taste of the story will convert players who usually skip the campaign entirely. For handheld owners, that taste could be enough to justify a day-one purchase.

The Open Beta Will Answer Switch 2’s Biggest CoD Question

The Switch 2 weekend of the beta is open to everyone, no pre-order required. That means you can test the campaign mission, multiplayer maps, the new Kill Block mode, and — in that second session — the Warzone Resurgence map Zodiac and Ground War. Whether those run natively on Switch 2 hardware or via cloud streaming remains unconfirmed, but Activision’s decision to bring the beta to Nintendo at all says a lot. The real test is whether CoD can hold up in portable mode, and we’ll finally get that answer on August 28 — a handheld milestone for the franchise.

Steam Deck Owners Should Temper Expectations

If you’re a Steam Deck owner, this beta may be a no-show. Modern Warfare II and Warzone are still marked ‘Unsupported’ on Valve’s handheld because of the Ricochet anti-cheat’s kernel-level driver. Unless Activision changes course for MW4, the PC version will likely require Windows — which is fine for ROG Ally and Legion Go owners, but a hard pass for SteamOS, where anti-cheat has already locked other betas out. It’s a reminder that CoD’s PC strategy still doesn’t accommodate the biggest handheld in the room, while Nintendo gets the red-carpet treatment.