With the launch of Season 3 this week, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Warzone are set to undergo a significant update that has sparked concerns among the PC community, particularly regarding potential impacts on matchmaking queue times.
Activision released the Season 3 patch notes, confirming a major overhaul in regular Multiplayer settings. They are separating the Multiplayer Ranked Play and Call of Duty: Warzone Ranked Play settings, introducing a new Multiplayer-only setting for Quickplay, Featured, and Party Games matches.
Here are the crossplay options that will be available for each of these settings 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 explicitly warned that selecting "On (Consoles Only)" may lead to longer matchmaking queue times, and choosing "Off" will definitely result in extended wait times.
The introduction of console-only crossplay in regular Multiplayer has caused unease among some PC players. They fear that console players opting out of crossplay with PC players could significantly increase their queue times. 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 cheating.
PC players have expressed their frustration on social platforms. 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." Similarly, X / Twitter user @GKeepnclassy 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." Another user, @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 systems rather than isolating PC players. Redditor MailConsistent1344 commented, "Maybe they should fix their anti-cheat instead of isolating PC players."
Activision has invested heavily in combating cheating, with several notable successes reported by IGN, including the shutdown of Phantom Overlay and four other cheat providers. Despite these efforts, the battle against cheating remains challenging. With the launch of Season 3, Activision has promised enhanced anti-cheat technology, which will be crucial, especially with the anticipated influx of players due to Verdansk's return to Warzone.
However, many in the community point out that the majority of console players, who are typically more casual, might not even notice these new settings. Most players dive into unranked Multiplayer for quick fun without delving into patch notes or settings. As a result, the majority of console players may continue to play with crossplay on by default, unaware of the option to disable it.
Call of Duty YouTuber TheXclusiveAce addressed PC player concerns on social media, 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 the 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 gameplay and whether they will help in Activision's ongoing battle against cheating.
