With the launch of Season 3 this week, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Warzone are set to undergo a significant change that has sparked concern among some members of the PC gaming community, particularly regarding potential impacts on matchmaking queue times.
Activision released the Season 3 patch notes, confirming a major update to regular Multiplayer. The update separates the settings for Multiplayer Ranked Play and Call of Duty: Warzone Ranked Play, and introduces a new setting specifically for Multiplayer-only modes like Quickplay, Featured, and Party Games.
Starting April 4, players will have three distinct settings for these modes, each with different crossplay options:
- On: This setting allows matchmaking across all gaming platforms within the selected playlists.
- On (Consoles Only): This option limits matchmaking to other console players only within the selected playlists.
- Off: This setting restricts matchmaking to players on the same platform within the selected playlists.
Activision has cautioned that selecting On (Consoles Only) might lead to longer matchmaking queue times, and choosing Off will almost certainly impact queue times negatively.
The introduction of console-only crossplay in regular Multiplayer has raised alarms among the Call of Duty PC community. They fear that console players opting out of crossplay with PC players could result in extended wait times for matches. This concern stems from the prevalent issue of cheating in Call of Duty, which is more common on PC. Activision has acknowledged this, noting that unfair deaths attributed to console players are more likely due to 'intel advantage' than actual cheating.
Reactions from PC players have been vocal and varied. Redditor exjr_ expressed understanding but concern, stating, "As a PC player…. hate this change but I get it. I hope it doesn’t affect queue times for the game in the long-run so I’m not forced to buy the game on PS5 to have a good experience."
Another user, @GKeepnclassy on X/Twitter, was more critical, saying, "This is awful for PC players because this just killed PC. Terrible idea because now PC players that ARE NOT cheating are being penalized. This is bullshit."
@CBBMack highlighted existing matchmaking issues, adding, "My lobbies barely fill already to being with on PC due to sbmm. This will without a doubt make it worse. Time to plug in the console I guess."
Some PC players argue that Activision should focus on improving its anti-cheat measures rather than isolating PC players. Redditor MailConsistent1344 commented, "Maybe they should fix their anti-cheat instead of isolating PC players."
Activision has indeed invested heavily in combating cheating, with recent successes including the shutdown of prominent cheat provider Phantom Overlay and several others ahead of the anticipated return of Verdansk to Warzone. Despite these efforts, the battle against cheating remains challenging. Activision has promised enhancements to its anti-cheat technology with the launch of Season 3, which could potentially ease some of the concerns among PC players, especially with the influx of players expected with Verdansk's return.
However, as pointed out by many, the majority of Call of Duty players on consoles may remain unaware of these new settings. Most players simply engage in unranked Multiplayer without delving into patch notes or settings, potentially continuing to play with crossplay enabled by default.
Call of Duty YouTuber TheXclusiveAce addressed the concerns of PC players in a social media post, saying, "I see a lot of pushback with this change from PC players concerned that they won't be able to find games in lesser played modes or that matchmaking will take too long. To be clear, PC players will still be matchmaking with the largest pool of the playerbase since that majority of players won't even notice this setting exists so they'll stick to the default or even if they are aware of it, many will choose to leave it on. If anything, it's the players that decide to turn console-only crossplay on that will be limiting their matchmaking pool but that's a choice that's now in their hands for the first time in Pubs and it's a tradeoff that many of us will be happy to make."
As Season 3 approaches for Black Ops 6 and Warzone, it will be fascinating to observe how these changes affect the gaming community and whether they help in Activision's ongoing efforts to combat cheating.
