Another Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 update, another community full of irate players who can’t understand that game updates don’t solely revolve around them. No prizes for guessing what the topic is this time either, because it’s one that comes up time, and time, and time again: skill-based matchmaking (SBMM).
For anyone who doesn’t know, SBMM is an algorithm, often deployed in multiplayer shooters, that means when you’re searching for a match, it prioritizes pitting you against players of a similar skill level. The benefits of this are obvious: each match should, in theory, be fair and balanced, the less experienced shouldn’t feel completely outmatched, while high-level players will be tested rather than steamrolling through enemies. On the other hand, it does mean each match is often “sweatier” (requires more focus and effort to play well), and since the real-world location of each player is less of a consideration, it takes longer to search for a match. That’s the long and short of it.
For years now, a vocal portion of the Call of Duty playerbase has been complaining about SBMM and advocating for its removal, because it means they get matched up against players of a similar skill. Which is the whole point. These players are typically content creators, streamers, and pro players, and as a result of their influence, their audience also parrots a similar opinion, despite it not actually being beneficial to run-of-the-mill players to get rid of SBMM.
SBMM benefits highly skilled players because they can run rampant against those not quite as talented, but at most, it can only be a positive experience for half of the community, because for every player putting up huge numbers, there has to be another player who’s being killed repeatedly. To Activision and Treyarch, both kinds of players are equally valuable. They’re all Call of Duty players at the end of the day, and the game is for everyone.
Shortly before the launch of Black Ops 7, Treyarch announced that “open” playlists — ones that prioritize connection and location over player skill — will be the default, and anyone who wants to play with SBMM enabled will need to search for a match in a “standard” playlist. Now, I agree that the naming convention here is poor, because “standard” implies default, but with every playlist in the game bar the one dedicated to SBMM having open matchmaking, it was clear Treyarch was running a fair experiment to gauge just how much open playlists affects player retention.
Fast-forward to today, the start of Black Ops 7 Season 1, and another announcement has come in: The standard moshpit playlist, aka the one with SBMM, will be pushed to a new “featured” tab in-game, making it more prominent for players. Open playlists will still exist, they’re just going to be an extra click away. This is because Treyarch claims to be seeing “increased engagement” with the standard moshpit playlist.
As expected, a lot of fans are throwing a hissy fit at this news, claiming Treyarch was setting up a “rug pull” and that they’ve “manipulated the entire process.” Here’s a newsflash, folks: Maybe some players simply don’t like being on the receiving end of a whitewash every game? Just because your favorite streamers will rant and moan about SBMM doesn’t mean you have to agree. The developers are not actively trying to sabotage their player count like some of you are implying, because why would they? If the standard playlist is getting more engagement, clearly the majority of the playerbase prefers it, they’re just not all on social media voicing their opinions. They’re the players who don’t play all day, every day, and just jump on for a few hours each week for casual sessions.
One somewhat valid concern I saw raised on the Black Ops 7 subreddit is how this will affect future games. Of course, gathering this data now will impact decisions for the next Call of Duty release, but there’s no reason to think they’ll abandon open matchmaking entirely again, as is claimed here. They are aware that while it’s a vocal minority complaining about SBMM, it’s not an insignificant number of players. I could be proven wrong, at which point I’d hold my hands up and admit it, but I can foresee Call of Duty 2026 featuring slightly more SBMM and a couple fewer open playlists, with the two co-existing in harmony.
All of this is to say that some fans need to get a grip. Understand that not every Black Ops 7 player is a sweaty tryhard, and that this isn’t a “rug pull” in any regard. Treyarch and Activision both want the game to succeed, and the decisions they make will be both led by data, and the ones they believe will increase those chances. Thankfully, some Reddit comments from players are sensible, but they’re balanced out by purported fans who refuse to think for themselves.
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Author: 360 Technology Group
