Prior to the launch of Call of Duty Black Ops 7, Treyarch made headlines when they announced that they would be tweaking their matchmaking system for the first time in years, reducing its focus on player skill in favour of connection quality. While further steps were said to have been made in this regard with the recent launch of BO7 Season 5, many fans have been left confused. Thus, Call of Duty has now come out to try and offer some clarity on the matter.

In the days leading up to the launch of Call of Duty Black Ops 7 Season 5, Treyarch revealed that the new content drop would arrive alongside a refreshed matchmaking system, stating at the time: “we're updating Black Ops Classic, Quick Play, and Party Games in Black Ops 7 with a new matchmaking system inspired by those classic games.”

At the time, little else was offered in the way of additional details, and so some players were left confused, especially as BO7 already included what Treyarch claimed to be ‘Open Matchmaking.’

Taking to Twitter to try to explain the new system, the team wrote: “We've seen your questions about the difference between Open and the new system. The new system builds on what we've learned, with smarter team balancing, wide match variety, improvements that help keep matches full, and a better experience for mixed-level parties. We believe these changes will deliver a better overall experience for all players, with the variety players love from classic Call of Duty.”

While it would be beneficial if Treyarch / Activision were to release a full document detailing the exact specifics which go into each matchmaking session, knowing at the very least what aspects this new system is targeting does allow for a greater degree of understanding. It will be interesting to see how they end up approaching matchmaking in MW4.

KitGuru says: What do you think of this new system? Was open matchmaking a jump up in quality compared to the previous Skill-based matchmaking? Let us know down below.

Prior to the launch of Call of Duty Black Ops 7, Treyarch made headlines when they announced that they would be tweaking their matchmaking system for the first time in years, reducing its focus on player skill in favour of connection quality – closer to that of OG COD’s matchmaking system. With Modern Warfare 4 on the horizon, Activision are making further changes to how they match players; further reducing SBMM in certain modes.

Taking to Twitter to make the announcement, the official Call of Duty page shared the following: “Over the past year, we've continued to learn a lot about Multiplayer matchmaking through player data and community feedback. We’re also excited to see all the recent love for Black Ops and Black Ops II, which reinforced that there are many elements of those experiences that players appreciate.”

With this in mind, the team revealed that “Starting this week with Season 05, we're updating Black Ops Classic, Quick Play, and Party Games in Black Ops 7 with a new matchmaking system inspired by those classic games.”

They concluded by stating: “We'll continue to offer Open playlists in Black Ops 7, and we'll also include Open playlist options in the upcoming Modern Warfare 4 Beta. Thanks for your continued feedback as we stay focused on player experiences that go beyond expectations. Jump in and let us know what you think.”

As mentioned, Black Ops 7 already includes an open matchmaking option, which deprioritises skill in many instances. That said, it remains far from perfect, and so it is interesting and encouraging to see Call of Duty trying to get closer to their more classic matchmaking experiences – especially in the wake of Black Ops 7’s Classic Mode and the revivals of BO1 and 2 on PS5.

Hopefully these changes are immediately noticeable. We’ll find out soon enough when Black Ops 7 Season 5 launches later today.

KitGuru says: What do you think of Black Ops 7’s open matchmaking? Is it a good enough compromise? Or should they go back to entirely connection-based matchmaking? Let us know down below.

We are rapidly reaching the end of Call of Duty BO7’s year of live-service updates, with the final two Seasons worth of content set to arrive ahead of Modern Warfare 4’s launch in late October. With that, the team at Treyarch have now unveiled and detailed everything coming with the launch of Black Ops 7 Season 5 next week.

Taking to their blog to make the announcement, the teams at Treyarch / Activision officially confirmed that Black Ops 7 Season 5 will be arriving next week on the 23rd of July.

As with all prior Seasons, S05 will be split up into two major content drops, with Season 5 Reloaded expected sometime in mid August. The full list of additions is lengthy, but some of the most notable include:

Multiplayer

• 5 new / remastered maps
  • Jubilee
  • Frequency (originally from Black Ops 4)
  • Dig (originally from Black Ops 2)
  • Turbo Tilt
  • Freerun: Descent
• 3 new modes
  • Overdrive Domination
  • Gauntlet Rush
  • Cranked Moshpit

Endgame

• New assignment ‘Burn Run’
• You can upgrade your Major and Minor abilities with Exotic Boosts

Zombies

• Eidskallen Lighthouse Survival map
• Kowakujō Directed Mode and Starting Room challenge
• 3 new Rogue Run playlists
• Final major map: Rex Infernus (S05 Reloaded)

General

• 4 new weapons
  • FG42 (AR)
  • Gremlin (Dual-Wield SMGs)
  • Mammoth (LMG)
  • Mace (Melee)
• 6 new weapon attachments
• 3 Limited-Time Events (including a 30th anniversary Treyarch celebration)

Of course, as with all of Black Ops 7’s post-launch support, Season 5 brings with it a ton of other ancillary additions, including earnable camos; a brand new Battle Pass; cosmetics and other rewards. Full details on everything coming throughout Season 5 / Reloaded can be found HERE.

KitGuru says: What do you think of BO7’s post-launch support? Will history look more kindly upon the game? Are you just waiting for MW4 at this point? Let us know down below.

In the wake of what were some pretty obnoxious skins being added to Call of Duty Black Ops 6 last year, the teams at Treyarch / Activision promised that they would tone down future efforts. Sure enough, Black Ops 7 has been much more modest in this regard. Even so, we have gotten some curious crossovers throughout the past few seasons – with famed actor Nick Cage now set to answer the Call of Duty.

Making the official announcement via their blog, Treyarch detailed all of the new additions set to come to Call of Duty Black Ops 7 with the launch of Season 4 Reloaded later this week (on the 25th of June).

The update will be rather meaty, and includes a brand new Zombies map; a bunch of Endgame additions; new multiplayer experiences; additional weapons; attachments and plenty more.

The most surprising inclusion however is of course, Nick Cage – with the actor crossing over into Black Ops 7 via an event pass. While the free track will include any and all gameplay additions (such as the classic AN-94 assault rifle from Black Ops 2 and the new Executioner’s Duet melee weapon); the paid track will feature two versions of Cage to obtain alongside various weapon blueprints; emotes and finishing moves.

Of course, Call of Duty has had a long history of featuring celebrities in its games, with past crossovers including the likes of Snoop Dogg; Nicki Minaj; 21 Savage; Rey Mysterio and Seth Rogen. Even within Black Ops 7 we have seen a couple similar collabs, with ‘comedian’ Dave Chappelle and actor Terry Crews both being added over the past few Seasons.

The upcoming Call of Duty Modern Warfare 4 has promised to double down on realism and tonality, already confirming that the game won’t include crossovers such as Nicki Minaj; Lady Gaga; Omni-Man; SpongeBob or Teletubbies.

While no one was expecting Tinky Winky to make his grand appearance in any Call of Duty, it will be interesting to see how different Modern Warfare 4’s post-launch content winds up looking like.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of Season 4 Reloaded? Are celebrity crossovers too far in your mind? Which COD had the best balance of cosmetics? Let us know down below.

Since its launch late last year, the team at Treyarch have been keeping Call of Duty Black Ops 7 feeling fresh with constant and consistent updates, adding suites of new content across the board. Season 4 looks to be no different, with the latest update introducing a plethora of exciting additions – including a brand new rogue-lite mode for Zombies.

Live right now, Call of Duty Black Ops 7 Season 4 has added a ton to the game across all modes. The full list of changes and additions can be found HERE, but some of the most notable include:

Global

• 2 new weapons at launch (KRS-7.62 Marksman Rifle and CBRS-3 SMG)
• 2 more weapons in-season (Grimhawk Special and VX Compact AR)
• 2 final weapons during S04 Reloaded (Executioner’s Duet melee and AN-94 AR)
• 5 new weapon attachments
• New Scorestreak (Iron Rain)

Multiplayer

• 3 new maps at launch (Liminal, Primetime and Vertigo)
• 2 more maps in-season (Zenith and Launch)
• 5 new/returning game modes (including Black Ops Classic)

Endgame

• Two new Acts/Operations (Act III at launch and Act IV in S04 Reloaded)
• New Skill Track (Guardian)
• 2 new abilities (Death Machine and Psych Grenade)
• Operator prestige (gives extra Exotic, Nightmare and Skill Track slots)

Zombies

• Nuked Survival map
• Totenreich Directed Mode and Starting Room Challenge
•  Rogue Run Game mode
  • Rogue-lite featuring its own progression and new mechanics
• Kowakujō map (Season 4 Reloaded)

As expected the free-to-play Warzone will also be seeing a number of updates, including the return of the much-loved Fortunes Keep Resurgence map, new game modes and additional gameplay additions.

Love it or hate it, there is no denying that Black Ops 7 has so far been one of the most supported titles in the franchise’s history. It will be interesting to see what the perception surrounding BO7 will be by the time it reaches its final Season later this year.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of Season 4? Are you hopping back in? Which COD game has had the best post-launch support in your opinion? Let us know down below.