'Call of Duty: Modern Warfare' multiplayer is free this weekend

Smitten by Call of Duty: Warzone, but not sure if the rebooted Modern Warfare is worth the price of admission? Good news: for three days, the multiplayer portion of Infinity Ward's latest shooter is going free-to-play. Download Warzone (if you haven't already) and Modern Warfare's multiplayer offerings will unlock at roughly 1PM ET/10AM PT/7PM CET on April 3rd. To celebrate this so-called "multiplayer moshpit," Infinity Ward has developed a special playlist called Stocked Up, Locked Down that cycles through two maps, Atlas Superstore and Shoot House, and a range of modes including Team Deathmatch, Domination and Hardpoint.

The free multiplayer access will expire on April 6th at 1PM ET/10AM PT/7PM CET. It's a nice gesture, and one that Activision no doubt hopes will persuade more people to buy Modern Warfare. Unlike Blackout, which required Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, Warzone is completely free-to-play. That decision has helped the battle royale newcomer rack up more than 30 million players -- a number that includes Modern Warfare participants -- and better compete with free-to-play alternatives including Fortnite, Apex Legends and PUBG. Modern Warfare sales have remained strong, too -- so breaking off what could have been an exclusive mode (similar to Blackout) doesn’t see to have hurt Activision's annualization strategy, either.

If your Call of Duty appetite still isn't satisfied, there's also the newly-launched Modern Warfare 2 remaster. The updated version of the largely-beloved 2009 campaign is currently available for $20 on the PlayStation Store. Xbox One and PC owners should get the same offering on April 30th.