Has the day finally come in Black Ops 7?
Ever since the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019), players have been asking for the removal of disbanding lobbies. Prior to MW2019, when you hopped into a public match in Call of Duty, you stayed with the same lobby of players unless there was a disconnection or every player left on their own accord. However, with MW2019 and in every game after, lobbies disband once a match ends, forcing you to find a fresh lobby with all new players.
While nothing is confirmed just yet, leakers have publicly stated that Treyarch is pushing to remove the disbanding lobbies feature in Black Ops 7. This would be the first time we would see disbanding lobbies in six years, and it might continue the trend of Treyarch and Activision listening and responding to community feedback since the reveal of BO7.
Are disbanding lobbies happening in Black Ops 7?
As of right now, Activision has not commented on this leak. According to insiders, developers at Treyarch have been pushing the executives at Activision to make this change on behalf of the community. The developers have seemingly seen and heard the complaints from fans about this feature, and they want to be the studio that finally gives players what they want.
The rumor of disbanding lobbies being removed in Black Ops 7 started when notable gaming insider @TheGhostOfHope tweeted out that Treyarch was pushing for the decision to be made. However, the insider made sure to preface the tweet by saying "Very big grain of salt," which means that nothing was set in stone just yet.
However, a couple of days later, another Call of Duty insider, @crazhfty, quoted the original tweet with something all fans have wanted to hear for years:
According to crazhfty, who has been leaking several bits of BO7 details over the past months, disbanding lobbies will be removed by Treyarch, but only after Activision approves the decision. This is similar to what TheGhostOfHope initially stated, but crazhfty seems to have heard that Treyarch is fully set on removing disbanding lobbies once Activision approves.
Now, whether Activision approves the decision or not remains up in the air. The one glimmer of hope the community has is that Activision has been extremely willing to act on community feedback in recent months, which likely stems from Battlefield 6 putting pressure on Black Ops 7's success. Just recently, Activision removed the controversial Carry Forward feature from BO7 after community backlash.
While disbanding lobbies is an entirely different monster, crazhfty seems confident that Treyarch can move the decision over the goal line. The one major speedbump that might get in the way is skill-based matchmaking, which is why disbanding lobbies was introduced in the first place. MW2019 introduced this feature as a way to crank up skill-based matchmaking, which wasn't nearly as harsh in all previous games.
Disbanding lobbies allows skill-based matchmaking to work better, as the game can decide more frequently which new lobbies you should be placed into, depending on your recent performances. While skill-based matchmaking would still be present in BO7 if disbanding lobbies are removed, it wouldn't have as much of a stranglehold on the community as it does in its current state. Players could remain in a good lobby they enjoy and choose to back out and find a new one whenever they want, instead of that decision being forced upon them.
We'll have to wait and see what Activision plans to do about disbanding lobbies in Black Ops 7, but if Treyarch has its way, you can expect the feature to be removed come Nov. 14.
If you want to read about other decisions Treyarch has made with BO7, such as the return of Yemen and other BO2 maps, then check out our previous guide. For all other COD news, stay tuned to EsportsGG for more Call of Duty.
