Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Multiplayer Opened in New Zealand Without Open Matchmaking
Every launch playlist uses Standard matchmaking, with Activision citing Black Ops 7 data in support of the system.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 multiplayer opened in New Zealand on Oct. 22 without a dedicated Open Matchmaking playlist. Quick Play, featured playlists, and popular modes all use Standard matchmaking ahead of the worldwide release scheduled for Oct. 23, 2026.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 MP currently has no Open Matchmaking playlists
All playlists have the “Standard” system that debuted in the beta pic.twitter.com/CZg89B9Cij
— CharlieIntel (@charlieINTEL) October 22, 2026
Before the beta, Activision said it planned to compare Standard and Open Matchmaking, as outlined in its beta matchmaking plan. Standard still considers player skill, but Activision says the system prioritizes connection quality and is less restrictive than matchmaking in recent entries.
Activision has also pointed to data from Black Ops 7. In a comparison covering the period from launch through Season 04, the publisher said Open Matchmaking had 32.7% higher quit rates, 14.4% fewer kills per minute, 5.3% lower win rates, and 59.2% more “Not Fun” ratings than Standard for 80% of players. Those figures concern Black Ops 7, not Modern Warfare 4‘s live matches.
We know some players like Open, but the issues were clear.
For 80% of players in BO7 from launch to Season 04, Open vs. Standard saw:
• 32.7% higher quit rates
• 14.4% fewer kills per minute
• 5.3% lower win rates
• 59.2% more “Not Fun” ratingsOn Nuketown 24/7, quit rates…
— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) August 19, 2026
Disbanding lobbies are another point of friction. Activision says about 50% of players leave after their first match, and almost none of the original group remains by the third. Its case for starting fresh lobbies is that they can get players into another match sooner while giving matchmaking more room to prioritize ping.
How much weight should Activision’s Black Ops 7 comparison carry in deciding whether Modern Warfare 4 should offer a separate Open playlist? For updates on the matchmaking system and launch playlists, stay connected on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, and Telegram.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4
Developed by Infinity Ward
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is a first-person shooter and the follow-up to Modern Warfare III (2023), continuing the rebooted Modern Warfare storyline. The campaign is set during a North Korean invasion of South Korea and features dual perspectives: a young South Korean soldier named Private Park facing his first combat deployment, and Captain Price operating outside official channels on a personal mission. The game also includes multiplayer with 6v6 core maps, large-scale vehicle combat maps, and a dynamic map system called Kill Block that reshapes layouts between rounds. A DMZ extraction mode is also featured. The game is released exclusively on current-generation platforms and PC.
- Genre Shooter
- Platforms Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5
- Perspective First person
- Modes Single player, Multiplayer, Co-operative
- Release October 23, 2026
- Publisher Activision
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Age Rating
