After years of player frustration, Activision has finally given the Call of Duty community what it’s been demanding: low-SBMM playlists are coming to the Modern Warfare 4 beta — and the studio says it’s still got a lot to learn about matchmaking.
The announcement came via Call of Duty’s official X account, where Activision confirmed it will carry forward the open playlist format first introduced in Black Ops 7 into the upcoming Modern Warfare 4 beta, which kicks off on 21 August.
What Activision Is Actually Changing
The shift started with Black Ops 7, where Activision introduced an “open moshpit” playlist that dramatically reduced skill consideration in matchmaking. Players had spent years lobbying against strict skill-based matchmaking — commonly known as SBMM — arguing it made casual play exhausting and punished experienced players by constantly pitting them against equally skilled opponents.
Now, Activision is taking that experiment further. In its Season 5 update for Black Ops 7, the publisher has introduced what it calls a “new matchmaking system” for classic, quick play, and party modes — one explicitly “inspired by” Black Ops and Black Ops 2. The statement from Activision reads:
“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.”
The new Classic Matchmaking system builds on what Activision has learned from BO7’s open playlists, adding smarter team balancing, wider match variety, and improvements designed to keep lobbies full — even for mixed-level parties. It’s a significant departure from the heavy SBMM era many players grew to dislike.
Modern Warfare 4 Beta: What Players Can Expect
The MW4 beta begins on 21 August and will feature both open matchmaking and classic matchmaking options, giving players a choice about how they want their lobbies filled. It’s a format that mirrors what happened during Black Ops 7’s own beta period, where the two systems ran side by side so Activision could gather data.
Note: Unlike last year, Game Pass subscribers will not receive early beta access to Modern Warfare 4. All players begin at the same time on 21 August.
Activision says it’s continuing to “learn a lot” about how different matchmaking systems affect player experience — which suggests the final matchmaking setup for MW4 at launch hasn’t been fully locked in yet. The beta is, at least partly, still a data-gathering exercise.
Why This Matters for Competitive and Casual Players
Skill-based matchmaking has been one of the most divisive topics in online gaming for over a decade. The core tension: strict SBMM ensures fair matches on paper, but it creates an exhausting treadmill where every game feels like a tournament. Casual players who just want to switch off and frag out end up in matches that are anything but relaxing.
Open matchmaking flips that on its head. By reducing how heavily skill factors into lobby creation, the system prioritises connection quality and faster queue times. Players land in lobbies with a wider spread of skill levels — which some find fairer, and others simply find more fun.
The fact that Black Ops 7’s open playlist “has gone down well,” as Activision puts it, is what’s driving the expansion into MW4. The publisher is responding to real player data, not just community noise.
What Comes Next
Modern Warfare 4 is developed by Infinity Ward and is due to launch on 23 October 2026. The August beta will be the first proper look at its multiplayer — and now, at its matchmaking philosophy. Whether the open playlist system becomes the default at launch, or sits alongside a more traditional SBMM option, remains to be seen.
What’s clear is that Activision has shifted its stance. After years of defending SBMM as beneficial, it’s now actively redesigning its matchmaking around what players have consistently asked for. The Modern Warfare 4 beta will be the next test of whether that approach holds up at scale — and whether the community’s enthusiasm for open playlists survives contact with millions of players.
For those who’ve been lobbying for change since the Modern Warfare 2 era, it’s a result worth paying attention to. Head to the gaming section for more on what’s coming in the second half of 2026.
