Call of Duty may have finally blinked on SBMM as the Black Ops 7 beta adds a playlist with 'drastically reduced' skill consideration

Three days into the Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 beta, Activision has shared patch notes for a new multiplayer mode with less strict skill-based matchmaking (SBMM). The behind-the-scenes online matchmaking practice, which seeks to pair players with those of a similar skill level, has grown controversial among some competitive FPS fans, and this is the first time Activision has ceded any ground on the issue.

"Like all things in Beta, our collective goal is to gather critical in-game data and feedback to make Black Ops 7 the best experience possible," Activision wrote in the patch notes. "We’re engaging with the community discussion about matchmaking and will be making some updates to our playlist plans."

For today, October 4, the beta will have two playlists for players to queue in⁠—Moshpit and Open Moshpit⁠—both with the same maps and modes. "In Open Moshpit, skill consideration is drastically reduced when matchmaking, with the goal of providing more varied match experiences and outcomes," the patch notes continue. "This playlist will match players with and against players of more varied skill differences than in the current Multiplayer matchmaking system."