The Perk system in Black Ops 7 needs to be changed ASAP

The multiplayer reveal of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 was everything fans wanted to see from Activision and Treyarch. We learned more about the 18 total maps coming to multiplayer, saw a few iconic weapons returning to the fray, and got a glimpse at every scorestreak in the game, some of which look devastatingly strong. The developers also gave us a peek at all of the loadout items you can equip in Black Ops 7, and this includes the perks.

We know every single perk that's coming to multiplayer, what color Combat Specialty each one is, and what slot they all fall into. While the perks themselves aren't a major issue, the way Treyarch has divvied them up amongst the slots is a huge problem that needs to be addressed before the launch of Black Ops 7 on Nov. 14.

As always in COD multiplayer, there are three perk slots, and each one contains a third of the perks you can choose for your loadout. While you can equip Wildcards on a loadout to give yourself more perks, you'll usually have three perks per loadout in Black Ops 7, one from each slot.

This makes choosing which perk to use from each slot incredibly important, as you're leaving several strong perks behind. Traditionally, perk slots are designed to force players to make tough choices when it comes to selecting which perks to use. Developers often make it so there are a few "upper-tier" perks in each slot, so players have to choose between them and leave the others behind. This can lead to variation across a player's different loadouts depending on the other choices they made in terms of weapons, Wildcards, etc.

However, in Black Ops 7, Treyarch went a little too far with this design philosophy. The perk 2 and perk 3 slots in multiplayer are mostly filled with niche perks that only a small portion of the player base will use, as they're not considered "meta" perks. On the other hand, the perk 1 slot is chock-full of incredibly useful perks that always see high usage and competitive viability. Just take a look at the perk options in slot 1:

Realistically, every option in the perk 1 slot could be used on any loadout aside from the Shadow perk. All of the others would be considered meta perks that players want to use across all of their loadouts. However, Black Ops 7 is currently forcing players to make impossible choices when it comes to picking perks from slot 1.

Having perks like Dexterity, Lightweight, Ghost, Ninja, Tech Mask, and Flak Jacket all in the same slot is devious by Treyarch, to say the least. The developers know that most of these are "crutch" perks, and right now, there are simply too many options in the perk 1 slot and not enough viable choices in the perk 2 and perk 3 slots.

Fortunately, Treyarch developer Matt Scronce took to X/Twitter to respond to this feedback just hours after the Black Ops 7 multiplayer reveal went live. Scronce stated that Treyarch has been actively looking at the perk slots, and it sounds like a change of some kind is in the works.

As the initial tweet from former pro Parasite says, there needs to be more viable perk options in slot 2 and slot 3. These options should come from slot 1, which gives slot 1 less competition and the other slots more competition when it comes to picking perks for a loadout.

Ideally, Treyarch adds three or four perks from slot 1 and places those in slot 2 and slot 3. However, we'll have to wait and see what the developers have in mind down the line, if this change is even made. Scronce states this issue is something Treyarch is looking at for launch, so the Black Ops 7 multiplayer beta will likely feature the current perk slots.

For more Black Ops 7 news, check out our other post about Activision possibly removing disbanding lobbies back into Black Ops 7. You can also look at all of the scorestreaks coming to multiplayer and details about all 18 multiplayer maps set to arrive at launch on Nov. 14.