Black Ops 7 beta adds new mode which “drastically” reduces Skill-Based Matchmaking

While there is plenty to complain about regarding Call of Duty, one of the biggest issues many fans have had over the past 5 or so years has been the increased reliance on skill-based matchmaking – making multiplayer feel less organic in the eyes of players, while also potentially impacting matchmaking times. In a surprise move, Treyarch is now testing a new playlist as part of the Black Ops 7 beta in which “skill consideration is drastically reduced when matchmaking.”

As part of the ongoing beta for the upcoming Call of Duty Black Ops 7, the team at Treyarch have been testing out a switch-up to its matchmaking. Taking to their blog to detail the latest beta patch notes, the team wrote:

“Today, we’ll have two playlists available: Moshpit, and a new option – Open Moshpit. In Open Moshpit, skill consideration is drastically reduced when matchmaking, with the goal of providing more varied match experiences and outcomes.”

They continued, “This playlist will match players with and against players of more varied skill differences than in the current Multiplayer matchmaking system. We will continue testing throughout the remainder of the Beta, so jump in and see what you think!”

For the uninitiated, skill-based matchmaking is the COD community’s term for MMR rankings seen across many different PvP multiplayer titles.

Though pitched as a benefit, higher-skilled players in particular have expressed their disdain for the system as it can make matches feel more homogenous as you will primarily be facing players of a similar skill level.

Of course, Call of Duty’s SBMM is much more complex than that, and factors in a bunch of different variables. Still, this marks yet another major change being made by Call of Duty in the lead-up to Black Ops 7 (and Battlefield 6 of course).

It will be interesting to see whether more players opt to play the regular playlist or the new ‘open’ one.

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KitGuru says: Have you been playing the BO7 beta? What do you think so far? Have you noticed any differences between your performance in the two different playlists? Let us know down below.

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