Call of Duty Vanguard is getting a free trial just 2 weeks after launch

Activision has confirmed plans to offer a free Call of Duty: Vanguard multiplayer trial just two weeks after the game’s release.

Players will be able to sample Vanguard’s entire multiplayer offering for four full days beginning on November 18 at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm GMT.

While publisher Activision has a history of running free Call of Duty multiplayer weekends, Vanguard’s first one is uncharacteristically early in the game’s lifecycle

It follows reports of relatively weak sales in the UK, where Vanguard was Call of Duty’s lowest-performing launch in 14 years. Despite this, the title still enjoyed the second biggest UK game launch of the year behind FIFA 22.

The free trial is also timed to coincide with the release of rival multiplayer shooter Battlefield 2042, which launched in early access last week but officially hits stores on November 19.

And it will follow the surprise early launch of Halo Infinite’s multiplayer component on Monday, which is available in beta form ahead of its official release alongside the game’s campaign on December 8.

Vanguard’s trial will also go live a day after the game introduces the latest version of popular Call of Duty multiplayer map Shipment.

The tiny, hectic battleground featuring empty shipping containers has appeared in multiple series entries since its debut 14 years ago as one of Call of Duty 4’s launch maps.

As well as mixing up the placement of its containers and adding a single container that hangs above the others on a crane, the latest iteration of Shipment features numerous containers with breakable walls.

Earlier on Tuesday, it emerged that a female employee at Vanguard studio Sledgehammer Games was allegedly raped by a male supervisor, Javier Panameno, in 2016 and 2017, leading to an out of court settlement.

It was also confirmed that Treyarch co-studio head Dan Bunting has left the Call of Duty: Black Ops developer following sexual harassment revelations.