ActivisionDespite years of requests for skill-based matchmaking (SBMM) to be removed from Call of Duty, Treyarch have revealed more and more players are still opting to play with strict SBMM when given the choice in Black Ops 7.
SBMM has been a divisive feature in Call of Duty since 2019’s Modern Warfare. High-skilled players felt punished for playing well, being thrown into tougher lobbies after a strong performance, and more generally, players felt it led to longer matchmaking times and inconsistent ping.
With Black Ops 7, the devs gave players the option to use Open Matchmaking, where skill is “minimally considered,” or the Standard Moshpit, which has strict skill-based matchmaking.
SBMM playlists are getting more popular in Black Ops 7
In the Season 1 update patch notes, Treyarch said they’ve “continued to see increased engagement with Standard Moshpit,” so it’s only getting more popular.
Because of this, the devs will “be featuring it in the Featured tab for players who prefer an experience with more similarly skilled opponents.” In Season 1, it’ll be more prominent on the menu when choosing what mode or playlist you want to queue into.
However, all of the other playlists and modes, including the new Season 1 Moshpit, will still feature Open Matchmaking, where skill is minimally considered.
But why are players gravitating towards SBMM when the vocal community has been against it for years?
One reason could be skill, where they’re struggling against better players found in Open Matchmaking, so they only want to go against those of a similar skill. Players have also called out the “Standard Playlist” name, potentially leading players to think it’s the “normal” playlist.
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This change has some of the community worried that this is the beginning of the end for reduced SBMM. “As predicted, Standard Playlist is now expanded and highlighted and will increasingly grow until the open playlists get killed off,” tweeted FPS streamer TheTacticalBrit.
Open Matchmaking will also be the default playlist in Warzone in the Season 1 update, where it will be applied to “all non-Casual modes available on the Warzone playlist.”