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 among some members of the PC community regarding their matchmaking queue times. Activision released the Season 3 patch notes, confirming the introduction of a major update to regular Multiplayer. The update separates 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, each of these three settings—Multiplayer Ranked Play, *Call of Duty: Warzone* Ranked Play, and Multiplayer Unranked—will feature the following 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 lead to longer matchmaking queue times, and choosing "Off" will certainly result in negatively impacted queue times. The introduction of console-only crossplay in regular Multiplayer has sparked worry among some in the *Call of Duty* PC community, who fear it could lead to extended queue times due to console players opting out of PC matchmaking to avoid potential cheaters.
Cheating is a known issue in *Call of Duty*, particularly more prevalent on PC, as Activision has acknowledged. Console players often disable crossplay to avoid encounters with PC cheaters. This new change has led to mixed reactions from the PC community, with some expressing frustration over potentially longer queue times. Reddit user exjr_ stated, "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 commented, "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, added, "My lobbies barely fill already to begin 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. Reddit user MailConsistent1344 suggested, "Maybe they should fix their anti-cheat instead of isolating PC players."
Activision has invested significantly in combating cheating, achieving several high-profile victories recently. Notably, Phantom Overlay, a prominent *Call of Duty* cheat provider, shut down in March, and four other cheat providers were closed down last month 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 the launch of Season 3, which could potentially ease PC players' concerns as more players return to *Warzone* with Verdansk.
However, many have noted that the majority of *Call of Duty*'s casual console audience may not even be aware of these new settings. Most players jump into unranked Multiplayer without delving into patch notes or settings, meaning they might not realize the option for console-only crossplay exists or understand its purpose. As a result, the majority of console players are likely to continue playing with crossplay enabled by default.
*Call of Duty* YouTuber TheXclusiveAce addressed the PC community's 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 impact the gaming experience and whether Activision's ongoing efforts to combat cheating will alleviate the concerns of the PC community.
