Call of Duty: Modern Warfare - What time is the game out in the UK and how do I download it?

Everything depends on where you are and how you plan to play

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is about to arrive. Though exactly when could be a little confusing.

The game is coming out on PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on 25 October. The release date is clear, but the release time is a little less.

It all depends on both where and how you are planning to play it.

On PC, the game will come out at 9pm EST on 24 October. That means that it wil be available at 2am in the UK, and at the same time everywhere else in the world.

On console, the release time will be more relative: it should arrive at midnight in your local timezone, wherever you are. That can be confirmed by heading to the store and checking.

Whenever the game is coming out, and wherever you will be playing it, you can get it ready to play when the release date comes. Since the game will take up 120GB of space, downloading it when it comes out could mean hours of waiting.

By pre-downloading, you won't have to wait until Call of Duty arrives on your console before you can actually get into it.

That's done by going into whichever store you'll be playing on, and buying the game. You should be able to do that as normal, and then click to download it, which will put it onto your console – though of course the file won't actually work until the release date has lifted.

Follow our live coverage of the release below:

Please allow a moment for the live blog to load.

[25 October 2019 09:11 · Andrew Griffin]

Welcome to The Independent's live coverage of Call of Duty release day.

[25 October 2019 09:35 · Andrew Griffin]

The game's release time was a little confusing, depending on both where you are and what you intend to play on.

But it should be here by now! If you pre-downloaded it should just be available to play, and otherwise should be available to buy and get through the relevant store. If it's not, give your console a restart and see if that gets you anywhere.

[25 October 2019 09:44 · Andrew Griffin]

The game arrives at a difficult time for Activision Blizzard, as focus turns to its relationship with China and its punishment of players who have given support to the protests in Hong Kong.

Players said they were cancelling their CoD pre-orders in protest and the argument has hung over the release.

Just last week, senators wrote to the company to ask whether it would "protect American values" or "give in to Beijing's demands".

You can read the full letter here.

[25 October 2019 09:46 · Andrew Griffin]

Some reviewing sites, such as Eurogamer, are withholding their reviews for now because they say they've not had enough time with the game. You can read about that decision here.

[25 October 2019 09:47 · Andrew Griffin]

That's not stopping it doing very well on the aggregators, though.

The PS4 version is currently sitting at 86 – which it says represents "generally favourable reviews" – on Metacritic, with a user score of 7.0.

[25 October 2019 10:09 · Andrew Griffin]

The best deals around in the UK seem to be on Very, where you can get the game for £46.99. Here's the PlayStation link and here's the Xbox one.

(Though of course it's £49.99 just about everywhere, including the consoles' online stores, so you might prefer to buy it from wherever suits you best.)

[25 October 2019 10:13 · Andrew Griffin]

The Day One update brings a whole host of changes, including fixes for bugs that affect the whole game. If you wish, you can read all the patch notes here, on Reddit.

[25 October 2019 10:17 · Andrew Griffin]

A considerable number of Xbox One X players are reporting that the game is making their consoles hard crash.

It appears to be limited to the Xbox One X – not the other versions of the console – and developers say they are investigating.

There's a long thread on Reddit where players are digging into the complaints, and where Infinity Ward have responded.

[25 October 2019 11:55 · Andrew Griffin]

After experiencing major problems overnight when the game was released, the Call of Duty servers do seem to be ticking over OK, according to outage tracking website Down Detector.

[25 October 2019 14:07 · Andrew Griffin]

Here's what those behind Call of Duty have to say about it, in a new press release. No surprise they think it's great!

“The energy across the community has been incredible and we can’t wait for all of our fans to play together, starting today,” said Patrick Kelly, Co-Studio Head and Creative Director, Infinity Ward. “Modern Warfare is packed with campaign, multiplayer, and co-op content; with something for everyone no matter what playstyle.  And launch is just the beginning for us.”

“There’s nothing quite like Modern Warfare – this is one of the most celebrated series in gaming – and in reimaging this great title, Infinity Ward has delivered an incredible, new experience that raises the bar for this franchise,” said Byron Beede, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Call of Duty, Activision.  “The momentum behind this release has been extraordinary, and today is only the start.  There’s so much more to come. This is a great day for Call of Duty fans everywhere.”