Warzone is getting Black Ops 7's open matchmaking in Season 1, so you won't have to take a shower after every match

Skill-based matchmaking is to casual Call of Duty players what Jigsaw is to people who shoplifted that one time when they were a teenager. The system can be an absolute menace that ensnares you and keeps you locked up in its algorithm tight, leaving you a sweaty (but not quite limbless) mess by the time you finish a game. Black Ops 7 broke the cycle by introducing open matchmaking to its casual playlists, and now it looks like Warzone is following suit.

CoD's (and by extension, Warzone's) matchmaking system has, for years, found itself at the centre of player discourse. The concept of skill-based matchmaking is a sound one: play a game, if you frag out, the bar raises. If you get dogged on, you'll have an easier time in the next one. The matchmaker tries to ensure you're always taking on players of a similar skill level in the FPS game, consistently creating competitive lobbies.

While this is all well and good if you're inherently competitive and love to sweat (hi, that's me), it's made it difficult for more casual CoD enjoyers to get a few games in without having to hop in the tub afterwards. The solution often raised, that has now been actioned in Black Ops 7, is that SBMM should be reserved for ranked queues only. A more open matchmaking system, one that accounts minimally for skill and features persistent lobbies like in classic CoD installments, should be utilized in casual play instead.

This is certainly a big swing from the CoD team, and it's one that is, evidently, proving popular in BO7, seeing as Raven Software is now bringing it to Warzone. Speaking in a new dev talk, game director Peter Actipis confirms "open matchmaking is coming to Warzone in Season 1," which kicks off on Thursday, December 4.

Alongside the matchmaking announcement, Actipis answers some of the big questions posted by players. New Resurgence map Havens Hollow is bumping up the lobby size from 44 to 52 players for quads, while its Homestead POI has been completely reworked. Now known as 'The Barn,' Actipis says "several long sight lines" that proved problematic during playtesting have been resolved. "We also have a lot more intentional rotations to and from this POI," he continues," and the center building has been reformatted to fix a lot more combat experiences, allowing for more dynamic and expressive plays."

The Warzone meta has often found itself in a stale spot, with the same go-to weapons and strategies dominating lobbies. Actipis says that Raven's "committing to updating the meta more often than we ever have in the past," with a particular focus on tweaking attachment power over straight-up buffing and nerfing weapons. So, it's time to put down the Dresden and Kilo, and start building out a fuller arsenal.

Perks are also set to get a tuning parse. For example, "Survivor is now going to be able to protect you against oneshot headshots." Sniper players will no doubt hate that. Survivor may still struggle to get into that first slot over the ever-useful Scavenger, but it's undoubtedly going to come in more clutch than before.

While Actipis wouldn't go into too much detail with regards to the upcoming LTMs, he does reveal that Raven's introducing a new "experimental" weekender that bolsters your base health called Ampred BR. "We really want to see how this changes the moment-to-moment combat," he says. Additionally, Season 1 will feature High Octane BR, which not only lets you begin a game with your desired loadout, but you'll also be able to "access the buy station anywhere at any time with a press of a button."

Looking ahead to Season 2, Actipis has a Jon Snow moment, revealing that "winter is coming" to Rebirth Island. Though we'll have to wait for a more detailed explanation of what that entails, the dev teases that it's "been hit by a snowstorm," and that there'll be "geo changes that are really going to help out with rotations and combat situations around the map."

All-told, it's a really promising update across the board. Not only are Warzone games set to become less stressful in the right way, but more regular meta switch-ups and a host of new modes should really help freshen things up around Verdansk.