Activision published an unlock criterion for every Operator, and the criteria split into eight kinds: five are free, one is a pre-order bonus, eight are Vault Edition, eight come from campaign missions, four from DMZ player levels, five from kill challenges, one from the charity pack and one is listed as [CLASSIFIED]. If you are starting a new account, the five free Operators are what you have on day one.
The five you have at launch
Min-Hee, CTSFO, Mil-Sim KSK Arctic, UCTF and Army SF Airborne are listed by Activision as Available Immediately. They are the baseline, and no purchase or mission changes them.
The edition is the biggest single factor
Eight Operators, from Ghost to KSK Amphibious, are Vault Edition content, and one more, Hunter Killer, comes with a Digital Standard or Vault Edition pre-order. That is nine of the 33 locked behind a store decision rather than in-game play, which is more than any other category. A pre-order perk is also the only criterion that does not carry over to the finished release.
The campaign is the cheapest progression
Eight Operators unlock by finishing a named campaign mission, and the campaign itself is the content you are buying. The requirement is a mission rather than a level or a purchase, which makes these the fastest unlocks in the game for anyone who was going to play it anyway.
The DMZ ones are a separate level track
Reece, Coffey, Simone and Hector unlock at DMZ player levels 4, 9, 15 and 19. Activision writes these as DMZ player levels, so a Multiplayer level does not move them. They also work in both Multiplayer and DMZ once unlocked.
The challenges ask for a specific kind of kill
Five Operators are behind Operator kill challenges, and each one names the kind of kill it wants: three kills without dying ten times, fifty hipfire kills, fifteen double kills or better, twenty longshot kills, or fifty headshot kills. They are tracked separately from ordinary kills.
One is not published
Ju Kwon is listed with the criterion [CLASSIFIED]. Activision published that there is a criterion and did not publish what it is, and this site leaves it exactly as written rather than guessing. Kyle is unlocked through the Call of Duty Endowment Valor Pack, the charity purchase that supports veterans.
| UNLOCK TYPE | OPERATORS |
|---|---|
| Free at launch | 5 |
| Pre-order | 1 |
| Vault Edition | 8 |
| From the campaign | 8 |
| DMZ levels | 4 |
| Kill challenges | 5 |
| Valor Pack | 1 |
| Classified | 1 |
| OPERATOR | FACTION | UNLOCK | CRITERION AS PUBLISHED |
|---|---|---|---|
| Min-Hee | South Korean Quick Reaction Force | Free at launch | Available Immediately |
| CTSFO | South Korean Quick Reaction Force | Free at launch | Available Immediately |
| Mil-Sim KSK Arctic | South Korean Quick Reaction Force | Free at launch | Available Immediately |
| UCTF | South Korean Quick Reaction Force | Free at launch | Available Immediately |
| Army SF Airborne | South Korean Quick Reaction Force | Free at launch | Available Immediately |
| Hunter Killer | South Korean Quick Reaction Force | Pre-order | Via Modern Warfare 4 Digital Standard or Vault Edition Pre-Order |
| Ghost | South Korean Quick Reaction Force | Vault Edition | Via Modern Warfare 4 Vault Edition |
| Blix | South Korean Quick Reaction Force | Vault Edition | Via Modern Warfare 4 Vault Edition |
| Valeria | Valeria’s Strike Cell | Vault Edition | Via Modern Warfare 4 Vault Edition |
| Price | South Korean Quick Reaction Force | Vault Edition | Via Modern Warfare 4 Vault Edition |
| SAS | South Korean Quick Reaction Force | Vault Edition | Via Modern Warfare 4 Vault Edition |
| South Korean SF | South Korean Quick Reaction Force | Vault Edition | Via Modern Warfare 4 Vault Edition |
| COM FST | South Korean Quick Reaction Force | Vault Edition | Via Modern Warfare 4 Vault Edition |
| KSK Amphibious | South Korean Quick Reaction Force | Vault Edition | Via Modern Warfare 4 Vault Edition |
| Cho | South Korean Quick Reaction Force | From the campaign | Complete “Mayhem” Mission |
| Dallas | Shadow Company | From the campaign | Complete “Hired Gun” Mission |
| Luca | Valeria’s Strike Cell | From the campaign | Complete “Traffic” Mission |
| Oh-Ji | Valeria’s Strike Cell | From the campaign | Complete “Assassins” Mission |
| Kal | South Korean Quick Reaction Force | From the campaign | Complete “Defection” Mission |
| Dunn | JSOF | From the campaign | Complete “Counter Attack” Mission |
| West | JSOF | From the campaign | Complete “Losing Ground” Mission |
| Park | South Korean Quick Reaction Force | From the campaign | Complete “Decapitation” Mission |
| Reece | Shadow Company | DMZ levels | Reach DMZ Player Level 4 |
| Coffey | JSOF | DMZ levels | Reach DMZ Player Level 9 |
| Simone | Shadow Company | DMZ levels | Reach DMZ Player Level 15 |
| Hector | Valeria’s Strike Cell | DMZ levels | Reach DMZ Player Level 19 |
| Blackwell | JSOF | Kill challenges | Get 3 Operator kills without dying 10 times |
| Jae | South Korean Quick Reaction Force | Kill challenges | Get 50 Operator Hipfire kills |
| Velikan | Shadow Company | Kill challenges | Get 15 Operator Double Kills or better |
| Valen | Valeria’s Strike Cell | Kill challenges | Get 20 Operator Longshot kills |
| Zimo | South Korean Quick Reaction Force | Kill challenges | Get 50 Operator Headshot kills |
| Kyle | South Korean Quick Reaction Force | Valor Pack | Via the Call of Duty Endowment Valor Pack |
| Ju Kwon | South Korean Quick Reaction Force | Classified | [CLASSIFIED] |
CHECK WHAT YOU CAN USE ↗ ALL 33 OPERATOR PAGES ↗ THE CAMPAIGN MISSIONS ↗
Where this comes from
Reviewed October 23, 2026. Every criterion on this page is Activision’s own wording, including the one Operator it lists as [CLASSIFIED]. Factions are Activision’s too. There is no ranking here and no opinion about which Operator to run.