With the launch of Season 3 this week, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Warzone are set to undergo significant changes that have sparked concerns within the PC gaming community, particularly regarding potential impacts on matchmaking queue times.
Activision released the Season 3 patch notes, which confirm a major update to regular Multiplayer. The update separates the settings for Multiplayer Ranked Play and Call of Duty: Warzone Ranked Play, introducing a new Multiplayer-only setting for Quickplay, Featured, and Party Games matches. Each of these settings—Multiplayer Ranked Play, Call of Duty: Warzone Ranked Play, and Multiplayer Unranked—will offer the following crossplay options starting April 4:
- On: Enables matchmaking with all gaming platforms when playing in the selected playlists.
- On (Consoles Only): Enables matchmaking only with other consoles when playing in selected playlists.
- Off: Restricts matchmaking to your current gaming platform only in selected playlists.
Activision has warned that selecting "On (Consoles Only)" could negatively affect matchmaking queue times, and selecting "Off" will definitely result in longer wait times.
The new console-only crossplay option for regular Multiplayer has raised alarms among PC players. They fear that if console players opt to avoid matchmaking with PC players, it could lead to longer queue times for them. This concern stems from the prevalent issue of cheating in Call of Duty, which is more common on PC. Activision has acknowledged this problem, noting that unfair deaths attributed to console players are more likely due to 'intel advantage' than actual cheating. Consequently, many console players disable crossplay to avoid PC cheaters.
PC players have expressed their frustrations on social media. Redditor exjr_ stated, "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, lamented, "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 added, "My lobbies barely fill already to begin 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 been actively combating cheating, spending millions and achieving several high-profile successes, such as the recent shutdown of Phantom Overlay and four other cheat providers ahead of Verdansk's return to Warzone. Despite these efforts, cheating remains a persistent challenge. Activision has promised enhanced anti-cheat technology with Season 3, which could impact PC players' experiences, especially with the anticipated influx of players due to Verdansk's return.
However, it's worth noting that many casual console players may not even be aware of these new settings. Most Call of Duty players typically do not delve into patch notes or settings, preferring to jump into unranked Multiplayer for a quick gaming session. As such, the majority might continue playing with crossplay enabled by default.
Call of Duty YouTuber TheXclusiveAce addressed PC player concerns, stating, "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 remains to be seen how these changes will affect the game's community and whether Activision's ongoing efforts against cheating will yield positive results.
