Radar: Modern Warfare 4 hits South Africa on 23 October at R1,199 on PC and R1,499 on PS5

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 goes on general sale in South Africa this week, and the cheapest official way in is on PC. Steam lists the standard edition at R1,199, while the PlayStation Store in South Africa charges R1,499 for the PS5 version. That R300 gap is the main buying question for local players before launch.

PlayStation's South African listing puts the release at 22:00 UTC on 22 October, which is midnight on 23 October in South Africa. Xbox lists the game as available on 23 October; Steam shows 22 October. Activision is publishing the game on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC and Nintendo Switch 2. There is no PS4 or Xbox One version.

What it costs here

On Steam, the Vault Edition costs R1,737, and owners of the standard game can upgrade for R538. On the PlayStation Store, the Vault Edition is R1,999. Nintendo's South African online store lists the Switch 2 version at R1,599. Microsoft's South African Xbox page takes pre-orders but showed no rand price when we checked on 19 October.

Local retailers are matching the PlayStation price for now. Koodoo lists the PS5 game at R1,499, marked down from R1,599, and GAME 4U also has it at R1,499.

The US price is $69.99 for the standard edition and $99.99 for the Vault Edition. At R16.46 to the dollar plus 15% VAT, the standard edition works out to about R1,325. Steam comes in under that line and the PS5 price sits about 13% above it. South African console buyers will pay the same R1,499 for GTA VI on PS5 when it arrives on 19 November.

What is confirmed

The Vault Edition adds two operator packs, a weapon collection, one season of BlackCell and a DMZ deployment bonus. Digital pre-orders unlocked the campaign early from 16 October. The game is not on Xbox Game Pass at launch, so subscribers have to buy it, and online multiplayer on Xbox still needs a Game Pass Essential subscription.

Launch-day content covers the campaign, multiplayer with 12 six-versus-six maps, and DMZ. The campaign is set during a North Korean invasion of the Korean Peninsula. Xbox's listing credits Treyarch and Raven as developers, while Steam lists Infinity Ward and seven support studios.

PC players should check their hardware before paying. Xbox's listing says the PC version requires TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot, and an Activision account is mandatory. A mobile number may also be needed to play.

What is still open

Microsoft has not shown a rand price for the Xbox Series X|S version on its South African store, so Xbox buyers can't yet compare it with the R1,199 PC price. Physical Switch 2 stock in local shops is also unconfirmed beyond Nintendo's own online listing. Until Microsoft publishes a local price, the only hard console number is the R1,499 PS5 price, set by a competitor.