Players keep discussing whether one of the most annoying features from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare has also made it into Battle Royale Warzone. It’s about “skill-based matchmaking (SBMM). The pros are sure: It’s in there and is just as annoying.
What is SBMM? Skill-based matchmaking means that when assembling a lobby, care is always taken to ensure players with roughly equal skills meet. This means: stronger players face stronger, weaker face weaker.
The discussion about whether SBMM exists in Modern Warfare is as old as the game itself. Many players are convinced that the matchmaking works exactly this way.
Players are now convinced that Warzone also uses SBMM. An expert’s test showed: Those who are too good in Warzone might regret it later.
For the former pro and now head of an e-sport organization Nadeshot, it can’t be a coincidence that he constantly has to play against top players. Former CoD caster Courage is also sure about this:
Absolutely. It’s egregious.
— Jack “CouRage” Dunlop (@CouRageJD) May 16, 2020
But why does it bother players and even pros so much?
SBMM – Why is it so annoying?
This is what annoys players about SBMM: The criticism of skill-based matchmaking is that players always have to give their best. They can’t just play a round for fun, like in the currently running Stimulus-Solo.
They always have to try hard not to be eliminated immediately. This makes it impossible to enjoy Modern Warfare or Warzone just casually. They are constantly forced to “sweat”.
Moreover, many players exploit this system. With the so-called “Reverse Boosting” they intentionally let strong players die frequently to get into lobbies with weaker players and then completely dominate them.
Additionally, content creators for Call of Duty find it very difficult to create entertaining content (via essentiallysports). Without SBMM it would be easier to create viewable content.
This is what other players say about it: On the other hand, Call of Duty fans who consider themselves worse find this system better. For example, Twitter user @kaiiscool517 writes in response to pro CouRage: “Bro, people like you make the game so boring because people are trying to have fun but famous people like you, Ninja, Tim, etc. make the game less entertaining.”
The user @IsmailHosny11 says something similar. In response to the comment that one always has to try hard with SBMM, he writes: “Okay, but that’s exactly what we noobs would have without SBMM, only that we wouldn’t have a chance against people like you. We also want to have fun and don’t have the luxury of investing dozens of hours to improve.”
Pros see a problem: “Why can’t we have a rank?”
Although primarily stronger players and pros are annoyed by SBMM, it might not be such a big problem that the system is implemented at all. The former pro and now head of an e-sport organization Nadeshot writes on Twitter:
I will never understand why Call of Duty takes all the trouble to implement skill-based matchmaking but doesn’t add a ranked system. If you already let me compete against better players, why can’t I have a rank that I can be proud of and work towards?
Nadeshot on Twitter (translated)
Nadeshot has previously commented on Warzone – among other things about cheaters and that CoD needs to change something urgently if it wants to survive. He says that he loves the game and doesn’t want to see it fall apart because of such issues.
Whether Modern Warfare and Warzone actually use SBMM is not entirely clear. The pros and Nadeshot are sure: yes. Unlike the test for Warzone, however, an experiment by two YouTubers in multiplayer showed that matchmaking might actually work differently than expected.
One way or another, the developers at Infinity Ward have no influence on matchmaking. After a long silence from the devs, the head of another CoD developer studio, Michael Condrey, spoke on the issue. According to him, this decision is entirely in the hands of the publisher – that is, Activision. Whether and when there will be a ranking seems to depend on that as well.
