Are consoles a better platform than PC for Black Ops 6 and Warzone? Exploring the current state of Call of Duty

Many Call of Duty players consider consoles to be better for playing Black Ops 6 and Warzone than PC. PC potentially delivers better visuals and framerates than any current-gen console. Moreover, with keyboard and mouse support, PC gamers can aim with pinpoint accuracy, which is crucial in a first-person shooter. Despite this, many fans consider consoles to be a better platform for playing it.

So why is that the case? Are Call of Duty games better optimized for consoles or have the developers failed to deliver fans on PC a compelling experience?

In this article, we will take a closer look at two main reasons why many Call of Duty fans prefer playing Warzone and Black Ops 6 on consoles.

Why do Call of Duty fans prefer playing Black Ops 6 and Warzone on consoles over PC?

There are two main reasons why Call of Duty fans prefer playing Black Ops 6 and Warzone on consoles over a PC. They are as follows:

Cheating

One of the reasons why many fans prefer playing CoD games on consoles is due to rampant cheating on PC. Consoles, be it the Xbox Series X|S or the PS5, are closed systems. This means that unless they are jailbroken, it's next to impossible to run any third-party code that has not been verified for the system.

Moreover, if a console is jailbroken, then it's simply not possible to play online. This prevents players from using any sort of cheating tool on consoles.

Unfortunately, that's not the case on PC. Windows PCs can run unverified code and are much more open compared to consoles. This allows miscreants to run cheats on their PC and exploit them in-game. Hence, CoD players prefer consoles as they can turn off cross-play and stick to other players on consoles.

Expand Tweet

The cheating situation was so bad that the developers had to introduce a new "console-only" crossplay system, which restricts matchmaking for all console players to console only.

This wasn't the case earlier. For instance, if players turned off crossplay on PS5, they would only be matched with other PS5 players. Naturally, this resulted in longer matchmaking times.

Since the dramatic rise of cheating instances in recent times, many players have turned off crossplay, and as stated, it resulted in longer queue times. Hence, the developers were forced to introduce a console-only matchmaking option for players to ensure better queue times while keeping the PC players at bay.

Also read: Cheaters can now reportedly disconnect other players in Black Ops 6 and Warzone

Aim assist

Expand Tweet

This is a bit controversial. Many players in the Black Ops 6 and Warzone fanbase have claimed that aim assist on consoles is simply superior to a PC's mouse and keyboard controls. Aydan, a professional Warzone player and content creator, claimed that aim assist on controllers needs nerfing as it is almost broken. Discussing the feature, he said:

"This is a big one. Not a lot of people are going to agree with me on this. I really think aim assist needs to be nerfed. I don't think I have actually never said that with any other game. Aim assist has to get nerfed. It's so OP. I don't think I will ever team with a mouse and keyboard player in competitive because they are just at the biggest disadvantage. "

He is not the only one. Many in the Call of Duty community have claimed that aim assist is simply better and makes the games way more accessible to users of all skill levels.

Discussing the current state of Call of Duty games on PC

These are two of the most common reasons why most Call of Duty players prefer playing Black Ops 6 and Warzone on consoles over PC. The results of it are well established in the games' performance on different platforms.

Call of Duty is losing players on PC and gaining players on consoles. Black Ops 6 and Warzone have lost nearly 50% of their player base on Steam since the game was launched. Considering the fact that the game's focus is on multiplayer modes and replayability, it means that players who did buy the game have eventually let it go.

Not because they completed every aspect of it, but because of the issues that they were facing on PC.

List of most played games of December 2024 (Image via Circana)

On the other hand, it remained the most-played game on PlayStation and Xbox in the same period despite crossing record numbers on all platforms back in October 2024.

A report by Circana shows the most played games on different platforms back in December 2024. Even during the game's free trial period, it was ranked the sixth most played game on Steam, whereas it was the most played title on consoles.

Hence, although PC might appear to be the better place to play Call of Duty titles like Black Ops 6 and Warzone, it is lagging behind consoles in terms of delivering the proper experience causing players to either quit or switch platforms.

For the latest Call of Duty news and guides, check out the articles below:

Edited by Shraman Mitra