PC Players Penalized by Console-Only Crossplay in Call of Duty

With the launch of Season 3 this week, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Warzone are set to undergo significant changes that have sparked concerns within the PC gaming community, particularly regarding potential impacts on matchmaking queue times.

Activision has released the Season 3 patch notes, confirming a major update to regular Multiplayer. The update separates the Multiplayer Ranked Play and Call of Duty: Warzone Ranked Play settings and introduces a new Multiplayer-only setting for Quickplay, Featured, and Party Games matches. Starting April 4, these settings will offer three crossplay options:

• 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 has warned that selecting "On (Consoles Only)" may negatively impact matchmaking queue times, while choosing "Off" will certainly have this effect.

The introduction of console-only crossplay in regular Multiplayer has raised alarms among the Call of Duty PC community. The fear is that console players opting out of crossplay with PC players could lead to longer queue times for PC gamers. This concern stems from Call of Duty's ongoing issue with cheating, which is more prevalent on PC. Activision has acknowledged this, noting that unfair deaths attributed to console players are more likely due to 'intel advantage' rather than cheating. As a result, many console players disable crossplay to avoid potential encounters with PC cheaters.

PC players have voiced their frustration and concern over these changes on social media. Redditor exjr_ expressed understanding but worry, hoping it won't affect queue times long-term. X / Twitter user @GKeepnclassy labeled the change as detrimental to PC players, arguing that non-cheating PC players are being unfairly penalized. @CBBMack highlighted existing issues with lobby fill rates on PC due to skill-based matchmaking (SBMM), predicting that the new settings would exacerbate the problem.

Some PC players argue that Activision should focus on improving its anti-cheat measures rather than isolating PC players. Redditor MailConsistent1344 suggested that fixing the anti-cheat system would be a better solution.

Activision has invested heavily in combating cheating within Call of Duty, with recent successes including the shutdown of prominent cheat providers like Phantom Overlay. Despite these efforts, the battle against cheating remains challenging. Activision has promised enhanced anti-cheat technology with Season 3, which could be crucial, especially with the anticipated return of Verdansk to Warzone.

However, many in the community believe that the majority of console players, who are often casual gamers, may not even notice these new settings. Most players simply jump into unranked Multiplayer for a short session without delving into patch notes or settings. As a result, they might continue playing with crossplay enabled by default, unaware of the console-only option.

Call of Duty YouTuber TheXclusiveAce addressed the concerns of PC players, suggesting that the largest pool of players will remain in the default crossplay setting, thus not significantly impacting PC matchmaking times. He emphasized that it's the players choosing console-only crossplay who will limit their matchmaking pool, but this choice is now available to them in public matches.

As Season 3 approaches for Black Ops 6 and Warzone, the community will be watching closely to see how these changes affect gameplay and whether Activision's ongoing efforts against cheating will make a noticeable difference.