Black Ops 7 Beta Adding Playlist with Minimal SBMM

The Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 early access beta Day 3 is officially live, and Treyarch just announced a new playlist with minimal SBMM. Treyarch has been adding new features to the Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 beta each day to keep the playlists fresh, including Zombies Survival and double XP.

Since the early access to the beta launched on October 2, Treyarch has been open with players about the updates to the game. Treyarch has made improvements to time-to-kill (TTK) and weapon XP, introduced new multiplayer content and Zombies Survival, as well as activated double XP and double weapon XP.

New Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Beta Playlist Reduces SBMM

The Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Day 3 update is now live, and once players launch into the game, they’ll be met with a new playlist: Open Moshpit. The Open Moshpit includes four maps and six modes, and skill consideration is drastically reduced. Players will dive into the classic matchmaking system while playing Team Deathmatch, Kill Confirmed, Domination, Hardpoint, and Overload. Treyarch hopes to collect the in-game data and player feedback to improve the Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 experience for everyone.

Skill-based matchmaking (SBMM) in Call of Duty has been a controversial topic in the community for years. The system uses players’ skills and statistics to match them into lobbies with others who are on a similar level, which results in highly competitive matches all the time. Charlie Olson, the developer who created the Matchmaking Rating (MMR) system in Call of Duty, has previously said that SBMM is essential for the franchise’s sustainability and player engagement.

The reaction to the Day 3 announcement has been mostly positive from the Call of Duty community, with fans proclaiming, “Call of Duty is back” in the Twitter comments. Along with the Day 3 update, Treyarch has also teased that Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 map Vertigo may be remastered, joining maps Meltdown and Yemen as possible post-launch content.

There is one thing that Treyarch still hasn’t addressed in the early days of the beta: the Gravemaker scorestreak. The sniper scorestreak in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is a portable one-shot rifle that can see enemies behind cover. It gives players a wallhack type skill that seems to be overpowered in its initial stages. With the Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 open beta starting on October 5, it is yet to be seen if Treyarch is listening to the players to reduce the power of this weapon before it’s available to everyone.