Call of Duty Black Ops 7 confirms "minimal" SBMM for multiplayer modes

Call of Duty Black Ops 7 looks good, but in its fight for shooting supremacy, it's got serious competition this year. In the next two months alone, Battlefield 6 attempts to steady the course of the classic franchise, and Arc Raiders looks set to put a new spin on the extraction genre. That said, Black Ops 7 is a promising FPS game in its own right, and players will be keen to jump into multiplayer matches as soon as it releases in November. Developer Treyarch has confirmed that those matches will use "minimal" SBMM, and open matchmaking will be employed instead, however, and it's music to my ears.

For those out of the loop, matchmaking is a point of contention in countless multiplayer games. Skill-based matchmaking, or SBMM, has been utilized in many major titles, and it pits players of similar skill levels against one another. Widely used across the industry, including for the majority of Black Ops 7's tests, the intention is to use metrics like K/D ratios and win rates to create balanced and fair matches where everyone is at a similar level. However, many players believe that it turns the game into a grind, and often prioritizes engagement over true fairness.

Towards the end of the recent Black Ops 7 beta, Treyarch added 'open' modes to the playlist, where SBMM was tuned down and players would find more random lobbies. Would you come up against players with dozens of thousands of hours and the reflexes of a jaguar, or would you stomp a bunch of seven-year-olds who secretly made an account against their mom's wishes? Players loved the mode, and Treyarch has listened to that feedback.

"At launch, Open Matchmaking with minimal skill consideration will be the default for Black Ops 7 multiplayer," it writes in the recent patch notes, which you can read in full here. "Simply put, imagine the matchmaking experience of Open Moshpit from the Beta, but as the standard in Black Ops 7 on day one."

It believes that this will provide players with a "more varied experience," and will share more details closer to the Black Ops 7 release date.

Additionally, the game will launch with persistent lobbies, meaning that players will find themselves with their teammates (and the same opponents) from match to match. Aim assist will also be tuned, and the Ricochet Anti-Cheat system will unleash a "full suite of detections" in time for launch.

If this gets you in the mood for some high-octane fighting, check out the best Black Ops 7 settings to ensure it runs buttery smooth, and make sure you know which are the best Black Ops 7 weapons ahead of the full launch. You don't want to look silly now, do you?

Will you be playing Black Ops 7 at launch? Let us know in our community Discord server, where readers and staff discuss our favorite matchmaking systems on a daily basis.