Activision has announced that it will be adding an ‘open moshpit’ playlist into the Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Beta, in which “skill consideration is drastically reduced” when queuing. In short, the playlist will not feature the standard skill-based matchmaking system that has been standardised in Call of Duty for years.
It’s a move that has sparked some positivity online after what seems like an abysmally disappointing beta for the franchise, with player counts on Steam (a data metric only publicly available through a player counter) not increasing significantly during the Beta.
The Black Ops 7 Beta patch notes state that the ‘Open Moshpit’ playlist will be identical to the ‘Moshpit’ playlist, with the difference being that skill-based matchmaking will be significantly reduced.
Maps
- Impring
- Cortex
- Exposure
- The Forge
Modes
- Team Deathmatch
- Domination
- Hardpoint
- Kill Confirmed
- Overload
In a statement to CharlieINTEL, Activision confirmed that this feature will utilize “classic matchmaking” from older Call of Duty titles, where skill was previously considered minimally.
It Won’t Solve The Issue
The issue, however, is that a dedicated moshpit to decrease skill-based matchmaking won’t have a significant impact in the grand scheme of things, as it’s likely to be a playlist only chosen by better players. In fact, I would argue that the best way to solve the SBMM once and for all would be to integrate an SBMM playlist and open up the rest of the game.
Yet we know that Activision has all the data, and we know that it’s something they wouldn’t do.
This, unfortunately, screams like a PR move to attract players, and unless the playlist contains bots to boost the confidence of skilled players artificially, this is a move that will almost certainly elicit negative feedback by the end of the first weekend of the Beta.
What do you think of Activision adding a less-SBMM playlist into Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s Beta? Do you think it will be added to the final game on launch?
Let me know what you’re thinking on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
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Tom Henderson is Insider Gaming's Co-Founder and Editor-In-Chief. When he's not running one of the industry's leading independent video game websites, he's probably playing an FPS like Call of Duty,…
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