Modern Warfare 4 DMZ: Explore the Hajin Exclusion Zone

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DMZ // Overview

A High-Stakes, Action-Packed Extraction Shooter

DMZ is Call of Duty’s definitive extraction shooter, a living world with unpredictable enemy encounters, weather, and objectives all brought together by meaningful match-to-match progression and inventory systems. Whether you plan to infil solo or with a squad, this volatile conflict zone offers numerous paths to choose from.

After experimenting and getting player feedback from the original DMZ Beta, Modern Warfare 4evolves the extraction shooter into a deeper, more cohesive, and more persistent combat experience shaped by what resonated most with players. Set in the Hajin exclusion zone and tied directly to the events of the Campaign, players deploy into a volatile Exclusion Zone, choosing how to survive, whether pushing deeper into dangerous territory for greater rewards, hunting high-value targets, defending against escalating enemy threats, completing story missions, or extracting before the situation becomes untenable.

 

DMZ // Setting

Into the Exclusion Zone

SUMMARY: Enter a contested exclusion zone as an off-the-books asset tasked with securing advanced military technology before it falls into hostile hands.

Following the events of the Modern Warfare 4 Campaign, an exclusion zone across the Korean peninsula remains saturated with abandoned military technology, weapons stockpiles, and destabilizing threats. Operating as a shadow CIA asset, you are deployed behind enemy lines and tasked with securing the various weapons and technology left behind before they fall into enemy hands. Both Rogue Operators and enemy combatants are active throughout the zone, forcing every squad to decide when to cooperate, when to engage, and when to disappear before tensions escalate.

Loot, fight, negotiate, betray, and extract whatever you can carry.

 

DMZ // Setting // Hajin: The New Frontline

A Region Shaped by Conflict

SUMMARY: Hajin is a dense exclusion zone built around exploration, discovery, and high-risk player-driven operations, where environmental storytelling and hidden discoveries reward players willing to push deeper into the unknown.

Nestled within a tri-point region bordering Russia and the Korean peninsula, Hajin is a contested exclusion zone where rival forces battle for control of abandoned military technology and strategic assets left behind after the events of the Modern Warfare 4 Campaign.

The atmosphere within the Hajin Exclusion Zone shifts can change based environmental effects, creating new opportunities and challenges on every run. Sudden downpours can reduce visibility and force Operators to adapt how they explore, move and engage, while dense fog banks and overcast skies transform familiar routes into tense navigational gambles.

Scarred by radiation, mass evacuation, and the collapse of civilian infrastructure, the region is one of the largest and most ambitious Call of Duty environments ever built, designed around exploration, environmental storytelling, and high-risk operations. From the irradiated Fallout reactor and the highly secured Prison complex to the remains of Hajin City and the heavily defended Military Base, every region inside the border area and exclusion zone offers different combat opportunities, sealed or hidden areas waiting to be discovered, traversal challenges and points of interest with hidden entrances accessible only via water, and other operational risks. Players willing to push deeper into the unknown can uncover hidden secrets, pursue high-value gear, and engage in increasingly dangerous missions with greater risks and rewards.

 

DMZ // Operations // Story Missions

Operations Pushing the Narrative Forward

SUMMARY: Continue the Modern Warfare 4 story through narrative-driven Story Missions built for replayability, squad-based action, and evolving storytelling throughout live seasons.

A collection of Story Missions expands the narrative of Modern Warfare 4, and features unique objectives, high-stakes action, and gameplay scenarios unfolding inside specific points of interest across Hajin, all within a live DMZ server populated by other operators pursuing their own missions. Built for squads and solo players with replayability in mind, Story Missions push the broader DMZ narrative forward through new discoveries and fresh challenges over time.

 

DMZ // Operations // Dynamic Operations, Side Ops and Free Roam

Activities that Evolve Every Match

SUMMARY: Take on guided Operations featuring evolving scenarios, escalating threats, and climactic moments unique to every match.

Before deployment, your objectives in DMZ are clearly defined: a focus on Story Missions, engaging in Dynamic Operations, and free explorations across Hajin. But no plan is guaranteed to last. The unpredictable nature of DMZ often demands quick adjustments as situations evolve in the field. Whether you decide to stay covert or bring the fight directly to your enemies, every match is an opportunity to push deeper into Hajin, uncover valuable intel and hidden secrets, and hunt down rogue enemy Operators to build your infamy.

Dynamic Operations are multi-step objectives generated for each match and designed to create focused tasks, from neutralizing abandoned weapons programs and securing critical assets to high-risk rescue operations and assaults against hostile forces. Every Operation in this extraction shooter is built around escalating tension, replayability, and large-scale moments capable of impacting activity across the wider region.

Even a seemingly routine task can lead to intriguing exploration: Side Ops are available and include activities like locating trucks across Hajin that have advantageous functionality once they’re repaired, locating lost supply drops, or scaling damaged radio towers. There’s the freedom to explore like never before, even into sectors of extreme danger like the area of heavy fallout in the eastern part of the map, where it takes a gas mask and gumption to find loot only available in this point of interest.

Beyond these Operations, Hajin supports free-roaming exploration for players who want to forge their own path, preserving the open-ended freedom that defines the DMZ experience. Whether hunting rival Operators, scavenging for resources, hunting down dangerous Lieutenants, accessing phones to initiate Dynamic Operations, commandeering a derelict casino while attempting to break into the vault without attracting a rival squad’s attention, or simply surviving long enough to extract, these side tasks add unpredictability and player choice.

 

DMZ // A Living World

Low and Slow or Fast and Loud

SUMMARY: Rival factions, roaming patrols, and shifting world events ensure that no two operations unfold the same way.

Players decide how to approach Hajin — moving low and slow through hostile territory, risking everything with an aggressive assault, or something in-between — while dynamic world systems respond to every action. Vehicle convoys move across the roadways, air traffic fills the skies, and hostile forces constantly reposition WMDs and strategic assets. With enemy factions and rival human squads battling for control of key locations, every operation can evolve in unexpected ways. Hajin represents an extreme opportunity for exploration.

DMZ also benefits from the advancements in movement and combat systems introduced in Modern Warfare 4, including enhanced traversal options like climbing pipes and navigating environmental obstacles with fluidity, alongside refined weapon handling, ballistic authority, and other mechanics that carry across the broader game experience.

 

DMZ // A Living World // Emergent Enemies

Advances in Enemy Combat Intelligence

SUMMARY: Improved AI combatants allow for larger combat spaces with coordinated enemy squads, reactive combat behaviors, and more dynamic infantry and vehicle encounters.

Modern Warfare 4 brings a new level combat density beyond anything seen in Call of Duty before. Hostiles throughout the exclusion zone are guarding key areas, traveling in convoys, flying in choppers and moving in large squads.  New squad generation systems help AI adversaries move beyond individual enemy behavior, with units that coordinate, navigate, react, and pressure players more convincingly. Approach lone AI enemies, and expect them to take cover and hold position, freeze, or try to break your line of sight. Combined with advances in game engine physics and squad/vehicle interactions, these systems make combat feel more active and unpredictable, opening the door to new forms of emergent gameplay.

 

DMZ // A Living World // Escalating Threats

Push the World, and it Pushes Back

SUMMARY: Escalating threat levels trigger stronger enemy responses, increasingly dangerous reinforcements, and elite forces sent to hunt players down.

Hostile threats across Hajin range from ruthless Lieutenants leading specialized units to roaming commander enemies that include tanks, drone swarms, Deathstalker helicopters, Juggernauts, and Elite Strike Teams. The DMZ threat system tracks player activity and escalates enemy responses as operators attract increasing attention inside the region. As threat levels rise, enemy forces mobilize to reassert control, deploying increasingly dangerous reinforcements to hunt players down. These forces include attack helicopters, more dangerous and heavily armored troops and eventually enemy Deathstalkers being dispatched to chase you down.

Survival depends on more than firepower alone; success comes from strategy, adaptability, and controlling the pace of combat before the engagement spirals out of control. One of these ways is using the Stealth Meter, a system that assists Solo players particularly well, as it helps you control combat when facing AI enemies. If you’re close to being spotted by AI adversaries, expect an audio cue and an indicator on your HUD that changes from white to yellow to orange. Hit the deck or get back into cover to prevent the observing hostile from being alerted.  

 

DMZ // Progression // FOB

Forward Operating Base

SUMMARY: A hub between operations, your FOB can be upgraded to unlock new services, expand operational capabilities, and prepare your squad for future deployments.

Before and after every extraction operation inside the DMZ, players return to their Forward Operating Base (FOB), a central hub built around preparation, progression, and long-term squad support. The FOB gives players access to key operational services including the 3D Printer crafting station, The Stash where inventory items can be stored deployment to deployment, weapon purchasing, a firing range, bounty boards, and additional upgrade systems that unlock over time. It also serves as a staging ground and social hub where squad members can regroup, rearm, inspect their Operators, assist with onboarding newer players, and prepare before deployment. As players earn XP, complete Missions, progress through the Trait System, gaining the reputation and skillset of an elite Tier 1 operator over time, the Forward Operating Base evolves alongside you, unlocking new functionality while visually transforming to better support your growing capabilities.

 

A Tour of Your Forward Operating Base

The FOB is the operational backbone of DMZ. Access the following via the physical FOB spaces and streamlined menu navigation. Note that imagery of the FOB will be unveiled at a later date.

• Orders and Objectives: Track your active Missions, review completed objectives, check available completion rewards, and plan future operations before heading back into the field.

• Stash and Loadout: Between deployments, players can manage a persistent inventory containing weapons, equipment, consumables, valuables, and special items. Gear can be organized between your Stash, and your Active Duty Operator's Backpack and Loadout. Each Active Duty Operator has their own Backpack and Loadout. The Stash size can also be upgraded by ranking up in DMZ. Operators looking to infil immediately can choose a Free Loadout containing combat essentials.

• Wallet: Use in-game cash primarily to purchase weapons and Gunsmithing attachments, as well as rescuing MIA operators, paying for Lieutenant Intel and much more.

• Completing Missions and Ops is the primary source of cash, wired directly to the Wallet in the FOB. Expenditure of funds is a key consideration in DMZ, and players may wish to employ an Active Duty Operator as a cash mule with particular skills when breaking into vaults, defeating HVTs (or other Bounty-tagged human prey) or completing Dynamic Ops to earn cash.

• 3D Printer: Gather resources throughout Hajin and return them to the FOB’s crafting station: As a general rule, the 3D Printer is capable of manufacturing a vast array of functional equipment and support gear (with a detailed list later in this blog), excluding Primary, Secondary, and Melee weaponry. Recipes unlock the ability to use component resources to craft a wide variety of Gear; items like night vision goggles, ballistic vests, backpacks, consumables, Killstreaks, and other specialized Equipment.

• Gunsmith: Weapons and related attachments are purchased using Cash in Gunsmith. The more effective the weapon or attachment the more expensive they are. As you progress through Mission Orders and extract Weapon Manuals from Hajin, the option of purchasing the weapons directly becomes available, but initially you'll have to rely on weapons scavenged during deployments. You can use cash to modify weapons with attachments you've unlocked, including Apex Attachments, but each one has a cost: suppressors, extended mags, powerful optics, and more all cost extra for the added effectiveness.

  • The Gunsmith allows you to add up to five Attachments to a weapon, along with an Apex Attachment. However, eight-Attachment weapons have been confirmed within Hajin.

  • Weapon Progression tracks across Multiplayer and DMZ.

• Weapon Vendor: DMZ Operators with enough in-game cash can purchase additional specialized weaponry from the FOB’s military supplier. These weapons are added directly to your Stash. The selection is limited and rotating, refreshing after a period of real-time has occurred. If you’re after a professionally built armament and don’t have the time to extract or purchase a gun and modify it, or use the Gunsmith, then this is an excellent option. Weapon Vendor firearms can be adjusted just like scavenged or purchased weapons, and don’t negatively affect your looting or progression.

• Firing Range (First Person): Located adjacent to the Gunsmith and Vendor, the firing range allows Operators to test Primary and Secondary weapon builds in a dedicated first-person training environment.

• Active Duty (Operators): Manage your available Operators, including those awaiting recovery after failed exfils. Each Operator maintains their own persistent Backpack, persistent Loadout, and persistent Trait Tree. This mission readiness allows players to prepare specialized kits for different deployment styles. Operator Traits (see below) can also be managed here.

• Boss Board: Review the latest intel on hostile Lieutenants (LTs); high-ranking enemy targets operating throughout Hajin before you drop into a match and attempt to neutralize these targets. Here, you can pay for intel related to a particular Lieutenant that allows you to pinpoint their location more accurately and reach them before your rivals do. Or climb Hunt Towers across Hajin, accessing a terminal to receive intel on the closest Lieutenant to your location. Slay a Lieutenant, and they drop a set of Dog Tags.

  • Lieutenant’s Dog Tags: Exfilling with these spoils of combat helps populate your Boss Board and are helpful to your continued success as an LT killer. However, they are equally valuable to enemy squads, who can track you via any Lieutenant’s Dog Tags you’ve acquired during a match. Expect fierce resistance from rival teams attempting to appropriate your LT’s Dog Tags, usually at hot exfil points, so they can populate their own Boss Board.

• Bounty Leaderboard: Monitor the most dangerous rival players currently operating inside the Exclusion Zone.

• Deploy: Before deploying into Dynamic Operations or Free Roam your squad can choose how to infil with the Paid Infil System. Go in quiet on foot, or fast and loud in a helicopter or large plane. Do you have the need for a vehicle dropped with you? The game has got you covered.

DMZ // Progression // Active Duty Operators

Build Your Specialized Squad

SUMMARY: Recruit and customize a roster of specialized Operators while earning progression through every operation inside the DMZ.

DMZ features a dedicated progression system built around a persistent inventory and long-term Operator growth. Within the FOB’s “Active Duty” menu, players can create multiple Operators as the Active Duty slot system returns from DMZ Beta, with each Operator owning a backpack and loadout persistent through multiple deployments, and customize them through the Trait System, assembling a roster of professional recruits suited for different mission types and playstyles. The more players accomplish during an operation, the more XP and progression rewards they earn, encouraging more risk-taking and deeper exploration. These multiple layers of progression provide a deep and rewarding experience:

• Global Player and DMZ XP: Story Missions, Dynamic Operators, and Side Ops are all excellent methods of obtaining XP, along with additional activities and enemy takedowns. This is irrespective of whether you successfully exfilled or not; there are no XP penalties for dying during a match.

• DMZ XP: All XP earned in DMZ upgrades your FOB, unlocks new Stations in your FOB, and ranks up your Operator. This allows you to unlock game-changing Traits to customize your playstyle..

The Trait Operator Progression System

Within the Active Duty station of the FOB, players can spend earned Trait Points on individual Operators to improve their effectiveness across a variety of disciplines, utilizing them from a roster of persistent characters. Earn Trait Points during missions and invest them into one of three Trait Trees, each leaning into a different skillset related to combat, scavenging, and other capabilities. Points are tied to the Operator who earned them. Unlock Traits along with passive benefits that allow you the freedom to specialize individual Operators for specific roles, including proficiency in PvP engagements, infiltration, looting, recoveries, or as a cash mule.

 

DMZ // Progression // Looting

Supplies Where They Should Be

SUMMARY: Search for weapons, equipment, and crafting materials placed naturally throughout the region based on location and strategic value.

Looting is a core part of progression in DMZ, built around meaningful resource gathering that rewards players who learn the region, study the map, and understand where valuable resources might be found. Finding unique ingredients in Hajin becomes a major focus, especially as you learn recipes – combinations of ingredients allowing the creation of better gear. Hunting for rarer ingredients that build more powerful equipment like printing Killstreaks, improved Plate Carriers, or Backpack types, and searching for recipes that upgrade your 3D printer to enable you to print even more potent items, results in a much more meaningful looting experience.

Supplies and loot are primarily distributed in ways that feel grounded and logical within the world itself, encouraging smart exploration and decision-making. Police stations contain combat gear and tactical equipment. Hospitals may have scarce medical supplies. Residential districts offer valuable crafting resources and scavenged materials. Designed to minimize inventory friction and keep players focused on the action, the looting system emphasizes player agency, preparation, and risk-versus-reward.

 

DMZ // Progression // Crafting

Build the Gear You Need

SUMMARY: Gather resources throughout Hajin and use the upgraded 3D Printer system to craft equipment, weapons, and high-end gear.

Crafting gives players greater control over how they prepare for future operations by transforming recovered resources into valuable equipment and combat-ready tools. Materials are disassembled automatically during a mission so players can stay focused on the action, while inventory management is easy to navigate. Extracted loot can be used back at your FOB within an intuitive crafting system built around a powerful upgradable 3D Printer capable of unlocking increasingly advanced crafting options, allowing players to manufacture equipment and rare gear.

The categories of Gear you can 3D print are as follows:

Here are the categories of Gear:

• Gear: Tactical equipment such as NVGs and Parachutes.

• Backpacks: Packs of varying sizes and specializations carried into a match.

• Plate Carriers: Craft different types of armor vests.

• Tacticals: Stock up on strategic, non-lethal equipment.

• Lethals: Assemble offensive equipment designed to damage or eliminate threats.

• Consumables: Beneficial items, from pain killers to radiation blockers.

• Field Upgrades: Abilities providing tactical support or intelligence. Unlike Multiplayer, Field Upgrades in DMZ do not recharge.

• Fire Support Items: Deployable offensive killstreak support.

• Tracked Recipes: A series of tagged recipes you’re on the hunt for.

• Special Items: A wide variety of items used for a wide variety of purposes.

The deeper players push into the region, the more opportunities they uncover to secure rarer resources needed to support stronger loadouts and specialized playstyles.

 

DMZ // Progression // Weapon Condition and Variants

Equipment Shaped by Conflict

SUMMARY: Recover damaged weapons and rarer enemy variants shaped by the harsh realities of the exclusion zone.

After combat, players can scavenge for dropped armaments, many with damaged optics, broken attachments, unstable weapon components, and improvised field repairs that affect both appearance and handling. High-value lieutenants also carry uniquely customized weapons featuring attachments and camouflage finishes.

 

DMZ // Progression // Recovery Systems

Extract. Or Die Trying

SUMMARY: Failed extractions carry real consequences, but recovery systems ensure players can continue progressing and return to the fight.

Though squads have multiple options to exfil from Hajin from helicopters to skyhooks, not every deployment ends in success. When an Operator is downed, they may be rescued, left to fend for themselves, or become lost in action. Fortunately, there are additional options:

Tourniquet: A new survival mechanic is the Tourniquet, allowing you to heal to a wounded state if you don’t have self-revive equipped. You won’t last long after a Tourniquet application, so you’ll need to apply additional medical items to reach full health.

MIA System: For those lost in action, the new MIA system allows players to expend in-game cash at the FOB and deploy rescue teams to recover them and continue their progression without starting from scratch. DMZ is designed to preserve the tension and high-stakes risk that define extraction shooter gameplay while remaining a little more forgiving than traditional extraction experiences. Every infil is still a gamble, with valuable rewards, equipment, and resources on the line until you successfully extract. While failed operations carry meaningful setbacks, players continue earning XP, unlocking rewards and traits, and advancing long-term progression. Every deployment moves you forward, but greater success still demands skill and tactical judgment.

 

 

DMZ // PvP

Hunter or Hunter Killer

SUMMARY: Take down rival Operators, build notoriety, and climb the Bounty leaderboard as the hunt escalates.

The hostile forces occupying Hajin are dangerous enough, but they’re not the only threat in the Exclusion Zone. Other squads or solo players are also deploying into Hajin, adding an unpredictable human element to every operation as players compete for valuable objectives and extraction opportunities. Every encounter carries uncertainty, forcing squads to decide whether to engage. For players who thrive on competition, DMZ’s Bounty system turns every engagement with rival Operators into a risk-versus-reward decision. Hunting other players raises your notoriety and puts a price on your head, making you more visible and easier to track. As a player’s notoriety grows, successful hunters can become some of the most dangerous targets inside Hajin. Earn a place on the infamous Bounty leaderboard by becoming a notorious killer or a bounty hunter. Secure rival dog tags and successfully extract for substantial payouts, along with serious bragging rights. Every Operator eliminated raises both the rewards and the dangers of operating inside Hajin, though hunting bounty targets can lessen the target on your own back.

Proximity Chat: In these high-tension situations, where life and death hang in the balance, you’ll need to stay frosty and employ vocal communication to end an engagement either peacefully, or with a satisfactory kill. With an upgraded engine comes a revamped Proximity Chat, allowing you to listen to (or mute) rival Operators within the vicinity of you or your squad, along with the following improvements:

• Distance-Based Vocal Falloff: Expect to find it easier to hear rival enemies the closer they are to you.

• Directionality: Pinpoint chatter more precisely depending on the direction your foe is approaching from.

• Environmental Voice Reverb: The type of interior structure or exterior topography affects the reverberations and echo of incoming comms, perhaps giving clues to their whereabouts.

 

See You in Hajin

Built on the same foundation powering Modern Warfare 4 Multiplayer — including refined and fluid movement across maps, an expanded equipment and full complement of weaponry, enhanced gunplay and Ballistic Authority — DMZ brings the full breadth of Call of Duty combat into a persistent extraction experience.

 

Stay Frosty

 

Additional Intel Incoming

 

Track the latest official Modern Warfare 4 intel on the Call of Duty Blog as we move toward additional information drops, the Modern Warfare 4 Open Beta, and launch on October 23.

For more information on DMZ, be sure to check out additional announcements at the XBOX Games Showcase, as well as the latest episode of the CODPOD, both on Sunday, June 7. Expect further DMZ intel arriving in the weeks and months ahead.

Preorders are available now at participating retailers, in-game, on platform stores, or at https://CallofDuty.com. For more information on preordering, including Vault Edition content, rewards, and a special Loyalty Discount, see the Preorder blog here.

 

Development Credits

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 development is led by Infinity Ward and will be available globally on PC via Steam on Friday, October 23rd, 2026.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 for the PC delivers a fully optimized experience, led by Infinity Ward in partnership with Beenox, for Steam.

Additional development in alphabetical order: Activision Central Design, Activision Central Technology, Activision QA, Activision Shanghai, Beenox, Demonware, High Moon Studios, Raven Software, Sledgehammer Games, and Treyarch.

 

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