Every PC player knows this screen: Game installed, hype is massive – only to be greeted by „Compiling Shaders 14%“ and a forced coffee break. With Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, that's set to change. Infinity Ward and co-developer Beenox have, along with the other beta details, unveiled a solution the PC community has been waiting for for years.
How does the new Shader Preloading work?
No cloud magic, no new DirectX feature – the solution is refreshingly down-to-earth. The game now handles shader compilation in the background via the launcher, while you're busy doing other things. Instead of getting stuck on a loading screen during the first launch, the work is already done before you even click „Play“.
Important distinctions between platforms:
- Battle.net: Preloading takes effect directly from the initial beta installation – meaning already during the preload itself.
- Steam: Here, you'll still need a one-time shader compilation upon first launch. It would be nicer otherwise, but at least it's only once.
- Xbox App on PC: is also supported.
- The feature can be disabled in the game settings if you prefer to allocate your CPU resources yourself.
Activision explicitly recommends letting the preloading complete before jumping into your first match. Incidentally, the notorious „Update Restart“ loop on PC, which ate up entire evenings in previous installments, has also been addressed.
What hardware do you need for the MW4 Beta?
Preload for the Early Access Beta started today at 6:00 PM CEST, with the beta itself kicking off tomorrow. Expect around 40 GB download. The official PC requirements are as follows:
- Minimum: Windows 10 64-Bit, AMD Ryzen 5 1600 or Intel Core i5-8400, 12 GB RAM, GeForce GTX 1060 / Radeon RX 470 / Intel Arc A580 with 3 GB VRAM
- Recommended: 16 GB RAM, GeForce RTX 3060 Ti / Radeon RX 6700 XT / Intel Arc B580
- Required: an SSD, DirectX 12, and enabled TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot – the latter is required by the RICOCHET anti-cheat system
This last point, in particular, tends to cause frustration. If you haven't enabled TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot in your BIOS, you won't even be able to start the game. So, you'd better check that now rather than tomorrow evening at 8 PM.
Why this is more than just a minor detail?
From our perspective, this is one of the most significant PC improvements Call of Duty has made in years – precisely because it seems so understated. Shader compilation has been a constant nuisance on PC since the switch to DirectX 12: Because the engine doesn't know which graphics card is in your PC, it has to compile the shaders locally. With weaker CPUs, this can quickly drag on for ten minutes or more, and if you skip it, you'll suffer stutters in the middle of combat later.
The fact that Activision isn't just masking the problem but simply removing it is a good sign – especially since the beta already offers an unusual amount of content. You can find more on the schedule and content in our overview of the Beta launch after Call of Duty NEXT, and how the multiplayer plays was recently shown in the official multiplayer trailer.
The full game will be released on October 23, 2026. All beta information can be found on the official Call of Duty Beta page.
Source: Eurogamer, Xbox Wire, Neowin, VideoCardz
How long have you had to stare at „Compiling Shaders“? Tell us about your worst waiting times in the comments!
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