"New Console-Only Crossplay Option Penalizes Non-Cheating PC Players in Call of Duty Multiplayer"

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With the arrival of Season 3 this week, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Warzone are undergoing a major shift—one that’s sparking concern among PC players about potential impacts on matchmaking queue times.

Activision officially released the Season 3 patch notes, revealing a notable update to Multiplayer settings. The developer is splitting the existing Ranked Play options into three distinct categories: Multiplayer Ranked Play, Call of Duty: Warzone Ranked Play, and a new Multiplayer Unranked setting tailored for Quickplay, Featured, and Party Games playlists.

Once Season 3 launches on April 4, each of these three settings will support the following crossplay configurations:

• On: Allows matchmaking across all platforms within selected playlists.
• On (Consoles Only): Limits matchmaking exclusively to console players in chosen playlists.
• Off: Restricts matchmaking solely to your current platform in the selected playlists.

Activision has issued a heads-up: selecting “On (Consoles Only)” may lead to slower queue times. However, the studio clearly states that choosing "Off" will almost certainly result in even longer waits.

Let’s face it—Call of Duty has long struggled with cheating, especially in its free-to-play battle royale mode. And while cheating exists across all platforms, Activision has confirmed that it's more rampant on PC. As a result, many console players opt to disable crossplay entirely to avoid encountering cheaters, believing they’re more likely to face an unfair kill from someone using “intel advantage” rather than actual cheat software.

“I’m a PC player… I hate this change but I understand why it’s happening,” wrote Reddit user exjr_. “I just hope it doesn’t ruin queue times long-term, or else I’ll have no choice but to pick up a PS5.”

“This is a disaster for PC players—it basically kills us,” tweeted @GKeepnclassy. “This decision unfairly punishes honest PC gamers. Total BS.”

“Even now my lobbies barely fill up because of SBMM,” said @CBBMack. “This change is definitely going to make things worse. Guess it’s time to hook up the console again.”

Many PC players argue that instead of enabling further separation, Activision should focus on strengthening its anti-cheat systems to prevent console players from feeling the need to cut off crossplay altogether. “Why not fix the anti-cheat before isolating PC players?” commented Redditor MailConsistent1344.

In fact, Activision has invested heavily in its ongoing fight against cheat developers, sellers, and users—with some high-profile victories recently reported. In March alone, well-known cheat provider Phantom Overlay announced its shutdown, shocking the community. Just weeks earlier, four additional cheat services were taken down ahead of the much-anticipated return of Verdansk in Warzone.

Still, this remains a difficult battle—one that might never be fully won. That said, Activision promises improved anti-cheat technology with the launch of Season 3. It remains to be seen whether these enhancements will make a noticeable difference for PC players, especially as Verdansk’s reintroduction brings a fresh wave of users into Warzone.

However, many point out that the average, casual console player may not even notice or use these new settings. Most Call of Duty fans don’t pore over patch notes or tweak game settings—they jump into a quick session, enjoy a few matches, and log off. These players likely won’t realize the console-only crossplay feature exists, nor understand why it was added. As such, the majority of console players may continue playing as they always have—with crossplay enabled by default.

This perspective was echoed by popular Call of Duty YouTuber TheXclusiveAce in a recent social media post addressing concerns from the PC community.

“I’ve noticed a lot of backlash from PC players worried about long queue times in less-popular modes,” TheXclusiveAce stated. “But let’s be realistic—PC players will still matchmake with the largest portion of the playerbase, since most people won’t even know this setting exists. They’ll either stick with the default or leave it on even if they do learn about it.”

“In truth, the only ones who will feel the impact are those who choose to enable console-only crossplay. For them, it’s a trade-off—but one that many console players will gladly accept.”

As Season 3 nears its release for Black Ops 6 and Warzone, all eyes are on how these changes will affect the player experience—and whether Activision’s continued crackdown on cheaters will finally bring balance to the battlefield.

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