Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Keeps SBMM — Activision’s New Fix Targets the Biggest Pain Point
After years of SBMM backlash, Activision is testing a bold workaround in the Black Ops 7 beta—an attempt to fix Call of Duty’s matchmaking without scrapping it.
Call of Duty is poking the SBMM bear again. In the Black Ops 7 beta, Activision slipped in a new multiplayer option that doesn’t kill skill-based matchmaking outright, but definitely loosens its grip in a big way. If you’ve been asking for lobbies that feel less curated and a little more chaotic, this is that.
What Activision actually changed
The beta patch notes add an 'Open Moshpit' playlist that purposefully cuts down the influence of skill when it builds your lobby. Standard Moshpit is still there and still uses the usual SBMM rules. Open Moshpit is the alternative: same maps and modes, but with the skill weighting dialed way down.
Why do this now? Community feedback. Early reactions to Black Ops 7’s initial matchmaking weren’t exactly glowing, so Activision is testing a lane for players who don’t want every match tuned to their performance. The company also confirmed the Open Moshpit playlist goes live later today in the beta.
So, is SBMM gone?
No. Skill-based matchmaking is still part of the game overall. Open Moshpit is a specific playlist that tries something closer to the older Call of Duty approach, where skill is a minor factor rather than the main one. The goal is more variety, less predictability, and yes, some messiness. If you’ve felt like the franchise got a little too samey match-to-match, this is the experimental pressure valve.
What’s actually in Open Moshpit
- Same content as standard Moshpit: Maps are Impring, Cortex, Exposure, and The Forge. Modes include Team Deathmatch, Domination, Hardpoint, Kill Confirmed, and Overload.
The inside-baseball bit
This isn’t Activision abandoning SBMM; it’s a workaround. The company gets to keep its balancing philosophy for the general player base while offering a playlist that feels more like the wild west days. It’s a smart hedge: if players love it, they’ve got a template. If not, they can chalk it up to a beta experiment and move on.
Whether Open Moshpit sticks around past the beta is the real question. Given how long this debate has been raging, I’m betting this won’t be the last time Activision tinkers with matchmaking knobs.