With the launch of Season 3 this week, *Call of Duty: Black Ops 6* and *Warzone* are set to undergo a significant update that has sparked concerns among the PC gaming community regarding potential impacts on matchmaking queue times. Activision has released the Season 3 patch notes, detailing a major change to regular Multiplayer by separating the settings for Multiplayer Ranked Play and *Call of Duty: Warzone* Ranked Play. Additionally, a new setting exclusively for Multiplayer unranked modes such as Quickplay, Featured, and Party Games has been introduced.
Starting April 4, players will have three crossplay options for these settings:
- 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 lead to longer matchmaking queue times, while choosing "Off" will definitely impact queue times negatively. This change, particularly the option for console-only crossplay in regular Multiplayer, has caused unrest among PC players, who fear longer wait times due to console players opting out of crossplay to avoid PC cheaters.
Cheating has been a persistent issue in *Call of Duty*, particularly on PC, as Activision has acknowledged. This has led many console players to disable crossplay altogether to avoid encounters with cheaters. The PC community's concerns are evident in comments from players like redditor exjr_, who expressed frustration yet understanding of the situation, hoping it won't severely impact PC queue times. Similarly, X / Twitter user @GKeepnclassy and @CBBMack lamented the potential negative effects on PC gameplay, with some even considering switching to console gaming.
Some PC players argue that Activision should focus on enhancing anti-cheat measures rather than isolating PC players. Activision has invested heavily in combating cheating, with recent successes including the shutdown of prominent cheat providers like Phantom Overlay. However, the battle against cheating remains challenging. With Season 3, Activision promises improved anti-cheat technology, which may influence the PC player experience, especially with the anticipated return of Verdansk to *Warzone*.
Despite these changes, many casual console players may not even notice the new settings, as they typically don't delve into patch notes or adjust their settings extensively. As pointed out by *Call of Duty* YouTuber TheXclusiveAce, the majority of the player base on consoles may continue playing with default settings, meaning PC players will still have access to a large pool of players. TheXclusiveAce emphasizes that it's the console players opting for console-only crossplay who will limit their own matchmaking pool, a choice now available to them for the first time in unranked Multiplayer.
As Season 3 approaches for *Black Ops 6* and *Warzone*, the community will be watching closely to see if these changes affect gameplay and whether Activision's ongoing efforts against cheating will yield noticeable improvements.
Latest Downloads
Downlaod
Top News
