Many modern shooters have a common problem, but a Halo developer explains what is going wrong and what needs to be done differently.
What is wrong with modern shooters? When you ask shooter fans, many modern games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 have a big issue with a clear name: Skill-based matchmaking (SBMM).
The system regularly causes frustration among players in its current implementation. Especially CoD players have been wishing for years that SBMM would finally disappear.
Max Hoberman, a former Halo developer, knows exactly what the problem with SBMM is and explains on X.com (formerly Twitter) how it could be fixed.
What does Hoberman say about SBMM? In his thread on X.com, Hoberman addresses two fundamental problems that SBMM has in modern games like CoD MW3:
- There is no variability in matchmaking
- No distinction is made in matchmaking between ranked and unranked
According to Hoberman, the lack of variability in matchmaking leads to frustration, and SBMM fails because it tries to maximize the number of balanced matches. The problem with a system that always has balanced matches is, in his view, that these are very competitive and therefore particularly stressful.
The failure of modern skill-based matchmaking, in my opinion, lies in its design to maximize these perfect match scenarios and minimize the others. When it works, most games are super close and super stressful. This is not fun for most players. Where is the variability in that?
Max Hoberman via X.com
The system he worked on for Halo 2 and 3, in comparison, provided three player experiences in ranked matches:
- Matches where you are superior
- Matches where you are inferior
- Balanced matches
Hoberman himself theorized that a good mix of these three experiences is ideal (via X.com)
Additionally, Hoberman explained that the matchmaking of Halo 2 and 3 distinguished between ranked and unranked. Only in ranked did the system filter players based on their level. In unranked playlists, the level of the players was not taken into account in matchmaking.
Furthermore, player skill was not measured across the board, but only per playlist. This led to unranked matchmaking allowing for a very broad skill spectrum. This made the gaming experience according to Hoberman a “casual fun”, as it should be in his opinion.
Again and again, SBMM is a big topic among shooter players. A German CoD YouTuber is also not a fan of the system and only has fun in the new MW3 when he manipulates the matchmaking:
