For years now, "SBMM" has been a four-letter curse on every Call of Duty lobby. Skill-based matchmaking isn't inherently wrong, though. In fact, it allows for more players to feel comfortable in games, but after Call of Duty introduced their current, stricter SBMM in Modern Warfare 2019, the community has found an immense number of problems with it. The unpredictability that made Call of Duty feel so special in the Xbox 360 era felt like it had been stripped away with the new SBMM model.

With Black Ops 7 less than a month away, though, Treyarch had major good news for a huge part of the COD fanbase. They've done something many thought would never happen — they've walked back SBMM for casual play. In a move that almost feels rebellious today, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is going to be going back to the old days of chaos and trash talk, and the lobbies may finally start feeling like playgrounds instead of exam halls now.

Seven years later, SBMM is finally going away from COD lobbies

Treyarch has confirmed no SBMM at launch for BO7

For nearly a decade, SBMM has been a silent puppeteer behind every frustrating death and one-sided loss in Call of Duty multiplayer lobbies. You'd have a great match, drop 40 kills, maybe get a nuke, and then suddenly, the next round feels like you're in a professional tournament with caffeinated bunny-hopping rabbits who can see you through walls. The constant push-and-pull effect drained the joy out of casually queuing up for a multiplayer match in any lobby.

Now, Black Ops 7 is marking a seismic shift in that philosophy. The idea that your next match might finally depend on luck and momentum instead of an invisible skill algorithm is honestly refreshing. Treyarch finally seems to understand that matchmaking should mix people up instead of caging them in, because balance can often just make a game boring instead of better.

Killing SBMM is a win for both casuals and pros

Open lobbies are where room for most growth lies

SBMM, for all its good intentions, often punishes improvement. The moment you got good, the game threw you into sweat lobbies so relentless that it felt like a tax on playing good. Instead of growth and the joy attached to it, you'd instead end up feeling exhaustion. Now, facing unpredictable opponents and weird team compositions would end up keeping your reflexes sharp and your strategies dynamic.

With Black Ops 7 loosening the screws a bit by giving us open lobbies with no SBMM at launch, the game finally presents the freedom to fail spectacularly, try goofy builds, and build rivalries with the same players over and over again through persistent lobbies. No more going back to the lobby to queue up again based on your last match's results.

Persistent lobbies will make camaraderie return

It's time to make rivalries great again

A long time ago, lobbies used to matter, because when you run into the same squad again and again, you'd form a grudging sense of respect for the guy who kept no-scoping you. Other times, you'd feel your golden hair coming on, on the edge of a Super Saiyan transformation as you readied up for a silent rematch with the team that just barely beat you. That's what's coming back with Call of Duty: Black Ops 7.

Persistent lobbies are a very underrated feature, even though they used to be the soul of multiplayer gaming. They made post-match voice chats full of adrenaline, laughter, and salty revenge declarations. When lobby disbanding became the norm, it felt like we lost that spark, and I couldn't be happier that persistent lobbies are coming back to the game. That's where the most room for growth lies.

This was a long-overdue change

Have they done this out of nervousness about Battlefield 6's success?

This is a rare moment when community outcry didn't fall on deaf ears. For years, COD fans have petitioned for changes to SBMM, and for years, it felt like no one was listening. Now, Treyarch seems to have realized that listening doesn't mean surrendering. Instead, it means adapting. Now, is this change only here because, as some might believe, Activision has been nervous about Battlefield 6's insane concurrent peak in its beta and its Call of Duty-like launch sales?

It's certainly possible. After all, they even made Black Ops 6 entirely free for the first week of Battlefield 6's release in the hopes of getting some players away from EA's product, which is clearly in its strongest avatar ever. Regardless, this is what competition is all about — one good product raises the standard, forcing the complacent to make long-overdue changes to stay at the top of the chain. If history is any indication, Battlefield 6 might still struggle to outsell Black Ops 7, because even the best Battlefield games that have gone up against the 'worse' COD games have struggled to outsell them. Regardless, the bottom line remains that Black Ops 7's multiplayer is going to be better than ever.

The death of SBMM could spell a new dawn for COD

At long last, Call of Duty fans are getting something real to celebrate. By stripping away the cold efficiency of SBMM, Treyarch is reigniting that spark that made the series iconic in the first place. I'm not going so far as to say that the studio is choosing soul over spreadsheets, but the optimistic kid in me who loves a good old-fashion COD persistent lobby is beaming with excitement.

Black Ops 7 could very well be a turning point for the entire franchise, and if that's truly what's happening here, then this might just be the most important Call of Duty launch in a decade.