Activision and Treyarch announced that following the success of the Open Beta, Black Ops 7 would launch with “Open” matchmaking as the default, vastly reducing Skill-Based Matchmaking (SBMM) and prioritizing ping. The game will also launch with “persistent lobbies” allowing players on opposing teams to continue to compete against one another from one match to another.

This is good news for many in the community, though it raises questions about previous statements from Activision about player retention. “Our data shows that when lower skill players are consistently on the losing end, they are likely to quit matches in progress or stop playing altogether,” Activision posted at the time. “This has an effect on the player pool. A smaller player pool means wait times for matches increase and connections may not be as strong as they should be. This can compound over time to create a spiral effect. Eventually, when only high-skilled players remain because lower skilled players have quit out of frustration, the result is an ecosystem that is worse overall for everyone.”

SBMM is designed to remove some of that disparity. There has been a vocal portion of the fanbase calling for SBMM to be removed (though it has been around in some form since Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare in 2007). The general belief is that SBMM creates matches that are too close, making everyone constantly fight at their peak in order to just scrape by regardless of skill level. While the best players are guaranteed plenty of low-skilled opponents without SBMM, lower-skilled players will be much more likely to encounter “sweats” in lobbies with no or reduced SBMM.

During the beta, I had many fun matches in both “open” and regular lobbies, but we encountered teams filled with twitchy, quick-scoping snipers in the “open” lobbies much more frequently. I’m a decent player. My group has a range of skill levels and I’d say I’m “pretty good” but far, far from the level a lot of these kids are at. I’m a Diamond in Ranked Warzone, but I’ll get clobbered by Crimson players and higher. SBMM in multiplayer “protects” me from this level of play, but also makes it less likely for me to encounter players far beneath my skill level. In “open” lobbies I can randomly play against a team that makes me wish I wasn’t playing or a team that I mop the floor with. I don’t find either of these experiences very fun. I like tough, close matches. These are the most fun.

I am happy that persistent lobbies are back, though mostly for my fellow gamers rather than for me personally. I really don’t care one way or another but it’s nice to have the option. I’m also glad to see that Activision is at least talking about scaling back the zanier skins and collaborations / crossovers. The closer we get to a mil-sim aesthetic, the better (though I’m fine with mil-sim adjacent stuff that’s a little more video-gamey and outlandish – just no more Beavis and Butthead skins, or neon green dragon outfits please).

Black Ops 7 releases on November 14th. The beta was a lot of fun. We’ll get more information on matchmaking prior to launch. It’s also worth noting that the announcement does not say that open lobbies will be the default forever, only that open matchmaking is the default at launch so this very easily could just be an experiment for now. Time will tell. There’s certainly pros and cons to both types of matchmaking, though I worry too little skill protection will lead to casual and lower-skilled players leaving the game in droves. We shall see.