A small test reported in November 2025 found that one Black Ops 7 account waited longer for matches and had higher average ping than another. It raises a fair question about how Open Matchmaking works, but ten matches per account cannot show that skill caused the differences or prove that Activision’s launch description was misleading. Activision promised minimal skill consideration—not none—and described matchmaking as a mix of factors.
What the Black Ops 7 test found
In a November 27, 2025 report by Insider Gaming, Call of Duty creator TheXclusiveAce compared two accounts: a main account used to play Black Ops 7 and a secondary account used for offline weapon and attachment testing. The report says he kept the time of day and controllable factors consistent, then played ten standard Team Deathmatch matches on each account.
| Account | Average time to find a match | Average ping |
|---|---|---|
| Main | 34 seconds | 42 ms |
| Secondary | 28 seconds | 25 ms |
TheXclusiveAce also said the secondary account was within 5 ms of his best ping in eight of ten matches, while the main account reached that mark once. These are results from his small comparison, as reported by Insider Gaming—not measurements published by Activision.
Do the results show that SBMM is less open than advertised?
No. The comparison found different averages, but it does not establish why they differed. Two accounts can differ in account history, server assignment, or other conditions even when a tester holds controllable factors steady. A difference in queue time or ping does not directly measure how much skill influenced the matchmaking decision.
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The report itself describes the sample as small and inconclusive. The results raise a question worth testing more carefully; they do not prove that skill caused the gap, reveal the algorithm’s weighting, or show that Activision contradicted its launch description.
What Activision promised for launch
In its Black Ops 7 beta patch notes, Activision said: “At launch, Open Matchmaking with minimal skill consideration will be the default for Black Ops 7 Multiplayer.” The notes also described Open Moshpit as using drastically reduced skill consideration and matching players with and against people across more varied skill differences than the existing Multiplayer system.
“Minimal” and “reduced” do not mean skill is removed altogether. The launch statement does not publish a numeric skill weight or a full Black Ops 7 algorithm specification, so the account comparison cannot be checked against a precise public threshold.
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- CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS 7 – Treyarch and Raven Software are bringing players the most mind-bending Black Ops ever.
- CAMPAIGN MODE – Squad up or go solo in an innovative Co-Op Campaign that redefines the Black Ops experience. Take on high-stakes challenges across a wide spectrum of environments, from the neon-lit rooftops of Japan to the Mediterranean coast, and even into the deepest corners of the human psyche.
- MULTIPLAYER MODE – Multiplayer explodes out of the gate with 16 electrifying 6v6 maps and two 20v20 maps at launch. From futuristic Tokyo vistas to the frozen, unforgiving wilds of Alaska, every environment is brimming with danger and opportunity. Master a cutting-edge arsenal and outmaneuver your enemies with an evolved Omnimovement system.
- ROUND-BASED ZOMBIES MODE – The nightmare begins where reality ends. Trapped in the heart of the Dark Aether, the crew is thrust into a vast, ever-shifting hellscape. This isn’t just survival. It’s a descent into madness.
Why ping and queue time do not settle the question
Activision’s January 2024 explanation of Call of Duty Multiplayer matchmaking says the system considers connection, time to find a match, skill and performance, playlist diversity, recent maps and modes, input device, platform, and voice chat. Activision calls skill “one of several factors” and says it is used to reduce extreme skill disparities and balance teams. The post discusses Call of Duty Multiplayer generally; it does not disclose the current weights used by Black Ops 7.
In an April 2024 white paper about ping and matchmaking, Activision described connection and search time as the two most heavily weighted factors in the system it examined, alongside other considerations. That context is one reason neither ping nor queue duration alone can be read as a direct proxy for skill weighting.
Activision also says its general matchmaking does not use spending or amount of play time to determine matches, and does not alter gameplay elements such as damage or hit registration. Those are statements about its general Multiplayer explanation, not a Black Ops 7-specific algorithm disclosure.
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- CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS 7 – Treyarch and Raven Software are bringing players the most mind-bending Black Ops ever.
- CAMPAIGN MODE – Squad up or go solo in an innovative Co-Op Campaign that redefines the Black Ops experience. Take on high-stakes challenges across a wide spectrum of environments, from the neon-lit rooftops of Japan to the Mediterranean coast, and even into the deepest corners of the human psyche.
- MULTIPLAYER MODE – Multiplayer explodes out of the gate with 16 electrifying 6v6 maps and two 20v20 maps at launch. From futuristic Tokyo vistas to the frozen, unforgiving wilds of Alaska, every environment is brimming with danger and opportunity. Master a cutting-edge arsenal and outmaneuver your enemies with an evolved Omnimovement system.
- ROUND-BASED ZOMBIES MODE – The nightmare begins where reality ends. Trapped in the heart of the Dark Aether, the crew is thrust into a vast, ever-shifting hellscape. This isn’t just survival. It’s a descent into madness.
Keep other published matchmaking results in their scope
Activision has cited a North American Modern Warfare III test in which skill consideration was loosened. Its 2024 summary said match quits increased across 80% of players, 90% of players in the loosened-skill group did not return at a higher rate than the control group, and Team Deathmatch blowouts—defined as a score difference greater than 30—rose across all skill levels.
Those are publisher-reported Modern Warfare III findings, not Black Ops 7 results. They offer context for why Activision has discussed trade-offs in loosening skill consideration, but they cannot establish how Black Ops 7 behaves.
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Playlist and date matter for claims about current matchmaking
A GamesRadar report from July 2026 says Black Ops 7 Season 5 added a matchmaking system inspired by classic Call of Duty games to Black Ops Classic, Quick Play, and Party Games, while modern Open playlists remained. This later reported change is playlist-specific context; it is not evidence of the launch setup or proof that the launch description was false. Claims about present-day matchmaking should identify the playlist and date.
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- In Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, Treyarch and Raven Software are bringing players the biggest Black Ops ever.
- Squad up or go solo in an innovative Co-Op Campaign that redefines the Black Ops experience. Take on high-stakes challenges across a wide spectrum of environments, from the neon-lit rooftops of Japan to the Mediterranean coast, and even into the deepest corners of the human psyche.
- Multiplayer explodes out of the gate with 16 electrifying 6v6 maps and two 20v20 maps at launch. From futuristic Tokyo vistas to the frozen, unforgiving wilds of Alaska, every environment is brimming with danger and opportunity. Master a cutting-edge arsenal and outmaneuver your enemies with a next level Omnimovement system.
- In Treyarch’s legendary Round-Based Zombies mode, the nightmare begins where reality ends. Trapped in the heart of the Dark Aether, the crew is thrust into a vast, ever-shifting hellscape. This isn’t just survival. It’s a descent into madness.
Ranked Play is a separate case. Activision’s Ranked Play support page says Skill Rating is affected by performance relative to opponents’ skill and by the team’s margin of victory. Ranked rules should not be treated as evidence of the exact behavior of casual Open playlists.
What a stronger comparison would need
A more informative test would need enough matches across repeated sessions to distinguish a consistent pattern from ordinary variation. It should disclose the following for both accounts:
- Account history and the skill proxies used to compare them.
- Region, data-center assignment, playlist, party size, and exact test dates and times.
- Queue times and ping distributions, not only averages, plus failed searches and exclusions.
- Whether the accounts were tested simultaneously, and how many matches were collected across multiple days.
Without those controls and a larger sample, account-level differences remain observations rather than evidence of a particular matchmaking rule.
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