I thought I was finally free from Call of Duty’s SBMM discussion. But in spite of a packed season 1 for Black Ops 7, it’s still all some players want to talk about 

I thought it was finally over. I believed I would never have to discuss it again. But here we are, in 2025, once again having skill-based matchmaking discussions in Call of Duty.

Black Ops 7 was supposed to be the year it was all put to rest. Activision and Treyarch deployed the new Open Matchmaking playlists where skill is “minimally considered,” finally acquiescing to player complaints. It has its ups and downs, but I think it mostly feels good and different from what we’ve had. But here we are again.

After a few days of peace and quiet, the CoD community is once again in an uproar because the “Standard Moshpit” (where “skill is an important consideration”) playlist has now been moved to the top of some options alongside season one. And judging by how some players reacted, with some calling it a “rug pull” and that “we’re cooked,” you’d think the world was ending.

“We’ve continued to see increased engagement with Standard Moshpit, so we’ll be featuring it in the Featured tab for players who prefer an experience with more similarly skilled opponents,” the company said in the season one patch notes, offering both options “for a more varied experience.”

Despite Open Matchmaking still being present on five out of six featured playlists at season one’s launch, along with the most popular option of Quick Play at the very top also featuring it, CoD players are complaining once more. And I’m really getting tired of reading and reporting about it.

Meanwhile, season one of BO7 probably has more content across the board than most players can handle, with Activision calling it the “biggest season one ever,” and I’m inclined to agree, judging from what I’ve tried. It’s got a bunch of new weapons, new multiplayer maps, a new Zombies map, and new Endgame activities, making up just some of what should keep most gamers busy through the holidays. And that’s without even getting into Warzone’s BO7 update, which most players are speaking fondly of (I still wish it had BO7’s wall-jump, though).

I do think that titling the moshpit playlist “Standard” is a mistake, and that’s why the most vocal complainers are crying conspiracy. Many feel as though unaware players are being duped into playing it and thus fueling standard SBMM numbers that the company can then use to say that it’s most popular, so it can bring it all back. It’s very tiring. Please, just either play the game’s options that you enjoy, or don’t. I really never want to speak or even type “SBMM” again unless there are major shifts.

I’ve reached out to Activision for comment yet again on the subject, to which it said there was no further comment beyond what’s already been announced. And I’m not holding out hope for this to be addressed further, unless things change.

The company has said numerous times that Open Matchmaking is where to go if you want things like connection prioritized over skill, and that Standard is there for those who may want to sweat it out a bit more. I personally won’t touch SBMM if I don’t have to, and I know many others feel the same, so that’s how I’ll navigate things moving forward until something drastic happens.