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- Black Ops 7 is changing Call of Duty’s matchmaking, lobbies, and aim assist on consoles.
- These changes have been put in place due to the threat of Battlefield 6.
- Activision has shown that competition is more effective in getting player demands addressed than the community’s feedback itself.
Call of Duty has found itself in hot water following the incredible reception to Battlefield 6. Despite claiming that they did not fear competition from EA, Activision and Treyarch have rapidly made changes to more than a few core components of the series in an attempt to regain player trust and interest.
Not to state the obvious, but this would not have been possible had Battlefield 6 not pushed the series into a corner. Indeed, changes to Call of Duty’s SBMM (skill-based matchmaking), lobbies, and other elements would simply have been unheard of in any other scenario. This is exactly why competition is so vital to the industry today.
Why it matters: The Battlefield 6 beta completely crushed the Black Ops 7 beta. EA’s latest first-person shooter has also become an instant hit on release, achieving nearly a million players on Steam alone.
The Big Changes
To quickly go over the changes, Call of Duty has made three key adjustments with Black Ops 7, and they’re all big in their own ways.
For starters, the ridiculous skins that plagued the franchise for over six years are seemingly going away this year. Although there’s no guarantee Activision will stick to this promise throughout the year, this is a good start for Call of Duty’s redemption.
While many were happy with this change, a cosmetic fix could only do so much to reignite player interest in Black Ops 7. It came as a shock to many, then, that Treyarch introduced a classic playlist in the game’s beta.
Fast forward to today, and this classic, mostly SBMM-free matchmaking style has been confirmed to determine the default matchmaking parameters for the game. These two changes alone were huge on their own, but Treyarch went the extra mile and confirmed the removal of disbanding lobbies for Black Ops 7.
All put together, these three updates address practically everything wrong with the modern Call of Duty title. As someone who had completely written off this year’s entry, I’m even considering jumping into Black Ops 7 on day one to simply see the classic Call of Duty formula in action once again.
Competition Matters More Than Community
The big takeaway here is that competition has driven Activision to do things it never would have imagined.
Over the last six years, there has been no shortage of influencers and players voicing their discontent with Skill-Based Matchmaking and disbanding lobbies, yet Activision has ignored this feedback time and again.
The likes of ModernWarzone and CharlieIntel even attempted to communicate the community’s wishes to Activision representatives in the past, but they were told that Skill-Based Matchmaking has always been in Call of Duty.
The publisher has also come up with various justifications for why the system needs to exist, but all that data and research simply went out of the window once Battlefield 6 pushed Black Ops 7 into a corner.
This is proof that competition is more important to developers and publishers than consumer feedback. Had Call of Duty been doing well, the community’s cries would have fallen on deaf ears just as they did in the past.
However, Battlefield 6 had such an impact on the series that Treyarch even went out of its way to address the criticisms from more skilled players regarding aim assist. All of this is ultimately great news for the consumer.
Watch Out For Next Year
Still, one can only trust Call of Duty so much after being disappointed time and again. In my opinion, it’s easy to see how these fixes are Activision’s get out of jail free card for Black Ops 7.
For all we know, next year’s Call of Duty will restore the status quo. This is why it’s so important for everyone to continue driving these points home and voting with their wallets.
If new skins seem to go against Activision’s promise to keep the franchise grounded this year, don’t buy them. If matchmaking feels shoddy a few months into the game’s lifecycle, stop playing for a while.
Activision may not take the community’s feedback too seriously, but it will certainly react to dwindling player counts and nosediving revenue figures.
In fact, it is said that Black Ops 7 pre-orders are worse than last year’s Call of Duty, and when taking these rumors into account, Activision’s reaction doesn’t seem so surprising anymore.
Here’s hoping 2025 was the wake-up call Activision needed all along to try harder with its flagship IP.
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[Senior News Reporter]
Avinash is currently pursuing a Business degree in Australia. For more than 5 years, he has been working as a gaming journalist, utilizing his writing skills and love for gaming to report on the latest updates in the industry. Avinash loves to play action games like Devil May Cry and has also been mentioned on highly regarded websites, such as IGN, GamesRadar, GameRant, Dualshockers, CBR, and Gamespot.
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