The next Call of Duty may not be ready to leave PS4 behind, if a new leak about the rumored 2026 Modern Warfare game is accurate.
Call of Duty leaker Alaix said on social media that they are "hearing that MW4 is currently being playtested on PS4." That is a small sentence, but it lands on one of the biggest unanswered questions around the next entry: whether Activision will keep shipping Call of Duty on last-generation consoles almost six years after PS5 and Xbox Series X|S launched.
Activision and Infinity Ward have not announced Call of Duty 2026, confirmed the Modern Warfare 4 title or named any platforms. The leak should be treated as unconfirmed until the publisher says more. If PS4 testing is happening, it also would not automatically prove a PS4 release, since internal testing can change before launch.
Still, the rumor is believable enough to get attention because Call of Duty has stayed cross-gen longer than many other blockbuster series. Activision's support page for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 lists the current game as available on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PC via Xbox on PC, Battle.net and Steam. Its console cross-gen editions also let players access versions across the same console family.
That support comes with trade-offs. The same Black Ops 7 support page says split-screen is available on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, but not on PS4 or Xbox One "to ensure performance integrity." That makes the 2026 platform question more than a box-art detail. If the next Call of Duty keeps supporting older consoles, fans will be watching for whether multiplayer features, visuals or map design are shaped around hardware from 2013.
Why the PS4 rumor has Call of Duty fans watching
The rumored 2026 game has already been surrounded by leaks. Previous claims have suggested it will continue the Modern Warfare line, possibly following Modern Warfare 3's story thread involving Makarov and the Konni Group. Other reports have claimed the game is targeting October 2026, but none of that has been confirmed by Activision.
Infinity Ward has also warned fans not to take every leak at face value. After earlier Modern Warfare 4 claims circulated in late 2025, the studio posted a holiday message saying, "Don't believe everything you read on the Internet." That did not settle any specific rumor, but it is a useful reminder with a game that has not been formally revealed.
For players still on PS4 or Xbox One, a cross-gen launch would mean another year of access to Call of Duty without buying new hardware. For players on current consoles and PC, it raises the opposite concern: whether another annual entry will still need to account for much older machines. Until Activision reveals the next Call of Duty, the PS4 claim sits in that uncertain middle ground, plausible, heavily discussed and not yet official.