The Matchmaking Debate
The Call of Duty matchmaking debate has persisted since the beginning of online multiplayer, questioning whether matches should group evenly skilled players or remove skill considerations entirely.
In 2025’s Black Ops 7, an option was introduced featuring both default skill-based matchmaking alongside open matchmaking playlists for players wanting random pairings.
Modern Warfare 4 launched without that explicit open option, renewing community discussion. Infinity Ward's Multiplayer creative director, Joe Cecot, emphasized that match quality remains the primary focus.
Developer Perspective
Cecot noted that the team evaluates player experiences and quantitative data regarding how matchmaking affects different groups of players, aiming to ensure that every match is a quality experience.
Algorithm Adjustments
Skill-based matchmaking has been part of the franchise since the original Modern Warfare, but the algorithms were tightened significantly starting with the 2019 reboot.
Player Experience and Whiplash
While skill-based matchmaking aims to create evenly contested matches, strong performances often lead the algorithm to place players in higher skill brackets subsequently, creating a volatile experience between rounds.
Uncertainty in Modern Warfare 4
While Black Ops 7 provided an open queue option to bypass skill-based matchmaking, the presence of a similar feature in Modern Warfare 4 remains unclear, with persistent lobby options lacking clear transparency.
For more on Modern Warfare 4, you can check out our review of the campaign, which will soon have multiplayer impressions added, or what we think of the extraction shooter mode, DMZ, so far.
We’ve got an in-progress Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Walkthrough to help you through the campaign missions, plus All Collectible Note Locations, and all the Code Solutions you’ll need to open every keypad and container. For multiplayer, check out How to Level Up Fast in MW4 and our Essential Multiplayer Tips and Tricks alongside the Best MW4 Settings we recommend you use. DMZ is back, so we’ve got a handy DMZ Beginner’s Guide, too.
