"New Console-Only Crossplay Option Penalizes Non-Cheating PC Players in Call of Duty"

With the launch of Season 3 this week, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Warzone are set to undergo a significant change that has raised concerns within the PC community about potential impacts on their matchmaking queue times.

Activision released the Season 3 patch notes, confirming a major adjustment to regular Multiplayer. It’s separating the settings for Multiplayer Ranked Play and Call of Duty: Warzone Ranked Play, and introducing a new Multiplayer-only setting for Quickplay, Featured, and Party Games matches.

Each of these three settings (Multiplayer Ranked Play, Call of Duty: Warzone Ranked Play, and Multiplayer Unranked) will offer the following crossplay options 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 warned that selecting "On (Consoles Only)" might negatively affect matchmaking queue times, and choosing "Off" will definitely impact them.

The introduction of console-only crossplay for regular Multiplayer has sparked concern among the Call of Duty PC community. They worry that console players opting out of matchmaking with PC players could lead to longer queue times. This concern stems from the game's reputation for cheating, which is more prevalent on PC. Activision has acknowledged this issue, noting that unfair deaths attributed to console players are more likely due to 'intel advantage' rather than cheating.

Some PC players have expressed their frustration on social media. For instance, redditor exjr_ commented, “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 stated, “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, mentioned, "My lobbies barely fill already to being 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 measures rather than isolating PC players. Redditor MailConsistent1344 suggested, “Maybe they should fix their anti-cheat instead of isolating PC players.”

Activision has invested millions in combating cheating, with recent successes against cheat providers like Phantom Overlay, which announced its shutdown in March. Additionally, four other cheat providers were shut down ahead of the anticipated return of Verdansk to Warzone. Despite these efforts, the battle against cheating remains challenging. Activision has promised enhanced anti-cheat technology with Season 3, which could influence the PC player experience, particularly with the influx of players expected from Verdansk's return.

However, many in the community note that the majority of Call of Duty console players, who are often more casual, may not even be aware of these new settings. Most players simply jump into unranked Multiplayer without delving into patch notes or settings. Therefore, the majority of console players might continue playing with crossplay enabled by default.

Call of Duty YouTuber TheXclusiveAce addressed PC player concerns on social media, 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 how these changes will affect the community and whether Activision's ongoing efforts to combat cheating will yield noticeable improvements.