A new update from Treyarch Studios has Call of Duty Black Ops 7 players concerned about the future of the game’s multiplayer mode. Some CoD fans argue that BO7 could already be breaking a major promise.
BO7 SBMM Sparks Controversy on the Eve of the Black Ops 7 Launch
Call of Duty Black Ops 7 is now live for most players around the world. However, on the eve of its launch, a post from Treyarch caused a stir in the CoD community. In an update published on X, the BO7 developer revealed their plans regarding Skill-Based Matchmaking (SBMM).
“Thanks to your Beta feedback, the majority of #BlackOps7’s MP playlists will have Open matchmaking, which will be similar to the Beta experience where skill is minimally considered.”
However, many players latched on to the wording of “the majority of playlists” and “where skill is minimally considered” to mean that BO7 will, in fact, have SBMM to some degree. Prominent CoD insider TheGhostOfHope responded to the update and wrote: “Days before launch and they tweet this, man. Rug pull is so obvious. There are so many red flags all over this tweet. I don’t like their wording on persistent lobbies either.”
As for why this is so controversial, it’s because many in the CoD community believed that BO7 would not have skill-based matchmaking. Based on the Beta and developer updates, they assumed there would be no SBMM. Although, in all fairness to Treyarch, they never specifically said that the game would never have SBMM. And as of now, it’s technically only one map that has it. Regardless, this was a disappointing update for some players on the eve of BO7 launching.
Could BO7 Open Matchmaking Be Removed After Launch?
Another major fear that Call of Duty Black Ops 7 players have is that Treyarch could remove open matchmaking in future updates. After all, the CoD developer also hasn’t actually promised that it would be kept as a permanent feature. Following the discourse that was sparked around the multiplayer update, popular Call of Duty creators took to X to voice their concerns.
“There have been ZERO promises made that open matchmaking will stay beyond launch, by the way. They have specifically mentioned ‘at launch’ so many times. It’s why I don’t blame people for waiting to buy this game in case of a rug pull. It’s Activision. This is the same company that made an entire whitepaper and posted it for everyone to see just a year prior, saying that they were right to keep SBMM in the game.”
SBMM is one of the most debated features in modern multiplayer titles. In theory, it’s supposed to pair players with similar skill levels. However, users often hate it because they get put into a pool of highly skilled players who destroy them. Whereas in open matchmaking, you have a chance of being paired with someone lower-skilled than you. Which kind of sounds diabolical, saying it out loud.
But come on, you know it’s fun crushing scrubs in a game! Jokes aside, many find open matchmaking more “fair” in that it’s random. Only time will tell whether BO7 keeps open matchmaking or whether it currently has a minor version of SBMM already implemented. Regardless, the disappointing update was enough to sour the launch of Call of Duty Black Ops 7 for some players and make them concerned for its future.
The post CoD Black Ops 7 Players Get Disappointing Multiplayer Update Before Launch appeared first on VICE.
