With the launch of Season 3 this week, *Call of Duty: Black Ops 6* and *Warzone* are set to undergo significant changes that have sparked concern among the PC community, particularly regarding matchmaking queue times. Activision released the Season 3 patch notes, confirming a major update to regular Multiplayer. The update separates the settings for Multiplayer Ranked Play and *Call of Duty: Warzone* Ranked Play and introduces a new Multiplayer-only setting for Quickplay, Featured, and Party Games matches.

Starting April 4, Season 3 will offer three settings for these modes: Multiplayer Ranked Play, *Call of Duty: Warzone* Ranked Play, and Multiplayer Unranked. Each setting will have the following crossplay options:

• On: Enables matchmaking with all gaming platforms when playing in the selected playlists.
• On (Consoles Only): Enables matchmaking only with other consoles when playing in selected playlists.
• Off: Restricts matchmaking to your current gaming platform only in selected playlists.

Activision has warned that selecting "On (Consoles Only)" may lead to longer matchmaking queue times, while choosing "Off" will definitely impact queue times negatively.

The introduction of console-only crossplay in regular Multiplayer has raised concerns among PC players. The fear is that console players, wary of PC cheating, might opt-out of crossplay, potentially increasing queue times for PC players. Cheating has been a persistent issue in *Call of Duty*, particularly on PC, as Activision has acknowledged. Many console players disable crossplay to avoid PC cheaters, which could exacerbate the problem for PC players.

PC players have expressed their frustrations. Redditor exjr_ stated, "As a PC player... hate this change but I get it. I hope it doesn’t affect queue times for the game in the long-run so I’m not forced to buy the game on PS5 to have a good experience." Similarly, X / Twitter user @GKeepnclassy remarked, "This is awful for PC players because this just killed PC. Terrible idea because now PC players that ARE NOT cheating are being penalized. This is bullshit." Another user, @CBBMack, added, "My lobbies barely fill already to begin with on PC due to sbmm. This will without a doubt make it worse. Time to plug in the console I guess."

Some PC players argue that Activision should focus on improving its anti-cheat measures rather than segregating platforms. Redditor MailConsistent1344 suggested, "Maybe they should fix their anti-cheat instead of isolating PC players."

Activision has been actively fighting cheating, investing millions in efforts that have led to the shutdown of several high-profile cheat providers, including Phantom Overlay earlier in March. However, the battle against cheating remains challenging. With the launch of Season 3, Activision has promised enhanced anti-cheat technology, which could be crucial as the return of Verdansk to *Warzone* is expected to attract a significant influx of players.

Despite these changes, many casual console players may remain unaware of the new settings. As *Call of Duty* YouTuber TheXclusiveAce pointed out, the majority of players might not even notice these settings exist, sticking to the default or leaving crossplay enabled even if they become aware of it. He noted, "PC players will still be matchmaking with the largest pool of the playerbase since that majority of players won't even notice this setting exists so they'll stick to the default or even if they are aware of it, many will choose to leave it on."

As Season 3 approaches for *Black Ops 6* and *Warzone*, it will be interesting to observe the impact of these changes on matchmaking and the ongoing battle against cheaters.