Game Director at Raven Software, Pete Actipis, has confirmed that Call of Duty: Warzone will revert to a more traditional open matchmaking system, minimizing skill-based criteria in matchmaking. This change will coincide with the significant Season 1 update, anticipated to drop on December 4.

For the last six years, the multiplayer aspect of Call of Duty has relied on a skill-based matchmaking system (SBMM), designed to pair players of similar skill levels, introduced in 2019’s reboot of Modern Warfare. Despite its aims to create fair matchups by reducing disparities between novice and experienced players, many players found that SBMM often resulted in frustrating matches where they faced highly-skilled opponents after performing well in previous games.

Raven Software has not explained the rationale behind this shift, but it likely stems from the community’s feedback during the Black Ops 7 beta. This overhaul in matchmaking approaches aims to prioritize connection quality and speed over player skill, offering a quicker matchmaking experience with potentially mixed skill levels in each game.

Players are eagerly awaiting this update, as many shared their thoughts, including excitement over the upcoming changes.