"New Console-Only Crossplay Penalizes Non-Cheating PC Players 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 could impact matchmaking queue times, particularly for the PC community. Activision's Season 3 patch notes introduced a crucial update to regular Multiplayer by separating the settings for Multiplayer Ranked Play and *Call of Duty: Warzone* Ranked Play. Additionally, a new Multiplayer-only setting has been added for Quickplay, Featured, and Party Games matches.

Starting April 4, players will have three distinct settings to choose from: Multiplayer Ranked Play, *Call of Duty: Warzone* Ranked Play, and Multiplayer Unranked. Each setting will offer 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. Activision has warned that this option may negatively impact matchmaking queue times.
• Off: Restricts matchmaking to your current gaming platform only in selected playlists. Activision has confirmed that selecting this option will negatively impact matchmaking queue times.

The introduction of console-only crossplay to regular Multiplayer has raised concerns among the *Call of Duty* PC community. They worry that console players opting to avoid matchmaking with PC players could lead to longer queue times. This concern stems from the prevalent issue of cheating, which is more common on PC. Activision has acknowledged that cheating is more frequent on PC, and some console players disable crossplay to avoid encounters with cheaters.

PC players have expressed frustration over this change. Redditor exjr_ commented, “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 stated, “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, noted, "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 enhance its anti-cheat measures rather than segregating players. Redditor MailConsistent1344 suggested, “Maybe they should fix their anti-cheat instead of isolating PC players.”

Activision has invested heavily in combating cheating, with notable successes reported by IGN, such as the shutdown of *Phantom Overlay* and four other cheat providers ahead of Verdansk's return to *Warzone*. Despite these efforts, the battle against cheating remains challenging. With the launch of Season 3, Activision promises improved anti-cheat technology, which could influence the experience for PC players, especially with the anticipated influx of players returning to Verdansk.

However, many in the console community may not even notice these new settings. The majority of *Call of Duty* players, who are casual gamers, typically do not delve into patch notes or spend time adjusting settings. They tend to play unranked Multiplayer casually and may remain unaware of the option to enable console-only crossplay.

*Call of Duty* YouTuber TheXclusiveAce addressed PC player 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 will be fascinating to observe whether these changes significantly affect matchmaking and how Activision's ongoing efforts to combat cheating evolve.