How to play MW3 during its free weekend
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How to play MW3 during its free weekend
Image via Activision

How to play MW3 during its free weekend

See if MW3 is worth it for you

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 usually costs $70 to download and play, but that’s about to change for a brief time. The first free weekend is coming soon to MW3, meaning you can access a good portion of what the game has to offer without paying a dime.

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Activision has been doing free weekends for Call of Duty over the past few years, and they have generally been well-received. Players who still haven’t purchased the latest Call of Duty title can test it out at no cost to see if they want to buy the full version or not. No matter what platform you’re on, you can take advantage of the upcoming free weekend in MW3.

In the guide below, you can see exactly when the free weekend is going to take place and how to play during this period.

When is the MW3 free weekend?

Earlier today, Activision announced the first free weekend for MW3 is taking place from Thursday, Dec. 14 until Monday, Dec. 18. On these dates, anyone can download MW3 for free and access a decent amount of content across multiplayer and Zombies.

More specifically, here’s the content you can expect to access if you take part in the free weekend:

  • 6 multiplayer maps – Terminal, Highrise, Shipment, Rust, Meat, Afghan
  • 4 multiplayer game modes – Team Deathmatch, Hardpoint, Kill Confirmed, Domination
  • Ground War + War
  • MW3 Zombies

While your access to multiplayer is limited, taking part in either Ground War or Zombies allows you to fully access what those modes have to offer during the free period.

How to download MW3 for the free weekend

Regardless of your platform, all you have to do to play MW3 during the free period is go to your system’s marketplace. On PC, you can visit either Steam or Battle.Net.

Once you’re on the marketplace, search for MW3 and you should see a prompt for the free weekend, which allows you to install a specific file. This file will be significantly smaller than the normal one for MW3 since you’re not downloading the full game. After the file has been installed, you can load up MW3 and begin playing. You will need to make sure you have a linked Activision account to whatever profile you’re using on your system, however.

Author
Image of Joey Carr
Joey Carr
Joey Carr is a full-time writer for multiple esports and gaming websites. He has 7+ years of experience covering esports and traditional sporting events, including DreamHack Atlanta, Call of Duty Championships 2017, and Super Bowl 53.