With the launch of Season 3 this week, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Warzone are introducing a significant update that has sparked concerns among the PC community about potential increases in matchmaking queue times.
Activision released the Season 3 patch notes, confirming a major adjustment to regular Multiplayer. The update separates the settings for Multiplayer Ranked Play and Call of Duty: Warzone Ranked Play, and introduces a new Multiplayer-only setting for Quickplay, Featured, and Party Games matches. Starting April 4, each of these three settings will offer the following crossplay options:
- 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) or Off may lead to longer matchmaking queue times. The introduction of a console-only crossplay option in regular Multiplayer has particularly alarmed some PC players, who fear that console players opting out of crossplay to avoid PC cheaters could result in longer wait times for them.
Cheating has been a persistent issue in Call of Duty, especially on PC, as confirmed by Activision. This has led many console players to disable crossplay to minimize encounters with cheaters. The new settings give console players the choice to avoid PC players entirely in regular Multiplayer, which has led to backlash from the PC community.
PC players have voiced their frustration on social media platforms. 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." Similarly, X / Twitter user @GKeepnclassy criticized the change, 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 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 within the PC community 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 investing heavily in combating cheating, with recent successes including the shutdown of prominent cheat providers like Phantom Overlay. As Season 3 launches, Activision promises enhanced anti-cheat technology, which could influence PC players' experience, especially with the anticipated return of Verdansk to Warzone.
However, many in the community note that the majority of console players, who are typically casual gamers, may not even be aware of these new settings. Most players simply jump into unranked Multiplayer without delving into patch notes or settings, meaning they might continue playing with crossplay enabled by default.
Call of Duty YouTuber TheXclusiveAce addressed the PC community's 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 whether these changes will significantly impact matchmaking and how effective Activision's ongoing efforts to combat cheating will be.
