Call of Duty Lets You Ditch Crossplay to Dodge Cheaters — But Is It Too Late?

Call of Duty is finally giving console players a choice to avoid crossplay — and the cheaters that often come with it. But is this fix coming a little too late?

No More “PC Player with Godlike Aim” in Your Lobby

If you’ve ever rage-quit a match in Call of Duty because someone seemingly dropped out of the sky, did a 360, and headshotted you through a wall, chances are—you blamed a PC player. And let’s be honest, you probably weren’t entirely wrong.

In what might be the most relatable quality-of-life update in recent memory, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is officially allowing console players to turn off crossplay in all multiplayer modes, starting with Season 3. Yes, this includes the unranked matches where your cousin’s friend’s neighbor from PC used to wipe the floor with your entire squad like he’s training for the esports Olympics. Previously, console players could only disable crossplay in ranked playlists. But now, that sweet option to go full console-only mode is here for casual and competitive games alike.

Why Crossplay Turn-Off Matters

Activision hasn’t been shy about why this feature exists—it’s a direct jab at cheaters, the kind that seem to multiply like gremlins after midnight. According to Activision’s recent blog post on Ricochet, their anti-cheat system, PC players make up the bulk of actual cheating cases. However, in a twist of irony, over 60% of cheating reports are against console players. Wild, right?

But here’s the catch: most of those console reports are wrong. The blog says these accusations are often based on misleading KillCams or simply misinterpreting an opponent’s good reflexes for aimbots. (Pro tip: Sometimes you just got outplayed. Sorry.) Still, the perception—and reality—of PC players being more likely to cheat is strong enough that Activision is letting console players hit the eject button from crossplay altogether.

You’ll now see three matchmaking options in Ranked and Unranked multiplayer as well as Warzone Ranked:

• On: Match with anyone and everyone, regardless of platform.
• On (Consoles Only): Match with other console players only.
• Off: Match only with your platform (e.g., PS5 to PS5).

Just know that if you go full solo platform mode, Activision says your queue times will suffer—and they don’t sugarcoat that “will” part. So yeah, you might trade cheater immunity for boredom while waiting for a match.

Party Leader Rules All

Let’s say you and the homies are all on PS5. If the party leader has crossplay off, then boom—no PC players are crashing your match. But if someone in your squad is on a different platform (like that one guy still rocking a PS4), your crossplay setting automatically adjusts to accommodate the mix. It’s kind of like being forced to invite that weird uncle to the BBQ just because your cousin brought him. One odd platform and the whole crossplay setup changes.

Good News for Consoles, Maybe Not for PC

Here’s the real kicker: PC players just lost a lot of lobbies. While console players are out here rejoicing about fewer hackers, PC gamers might find themselves stuck in longer queues or surrounded by even more cheaters. Especially in casual playlists, where anti-cheat tools historically lag behind player complaints.

To Activision’s credit, they’re not sitting on their hands. The Ricochet team claims that 23% of cheaters are banned before their first match even starts, and over 20 cheat makers and resellers are already shut down since Black Ops 6 launched. They’re also rolling out a mysterious new anti-cheat layer, but they’re keeping it secret for “security reasons.” (In other words, they don’t want cheat devs reverse-engineering it overnight.)

A Long-Awaited Win for Console Gamers

For years, the debate around crossplay has been a tug-of-war between accessibility and fairness. On paper, it’s great—friends can play together across platforms, and lobbies stay full. But in practice, it often means a keyboard-and-mouse sweatlord with suspicious aim is out here turning console players into digital mulch.

Disabling crossplay in casual lobbies is a huge win for console players who just want to unwind without getting absolutely bodied by hackers—or people with a 12-button mouse and the reflexes of a caffeinated hawk. And while queue times may go up slightly for those who turn it off, many players would gladly trade waiting a few extra minutes for a chance at a cheat-free, more balanced game.