Call of Duty finally gives details on how matchmaking works and says your skill is not actually the most important factor.
The matchmaking of Call of Duty has been a major and much-discussed topic in the Call of Duty community for years.
Simply put, the theory of many players is that your skill and gameplay performance determine which opponents you get. The better you play, the stronger your opponents will be. The term SBMM – skill-based matchmaking – is often mentioned.
As the players suspect, various aspects count under the factor “skill.” In addition to the number of kills and deaths as well as wins and losses, players also suspect that your movement and crosshair placement might play a role.
In early December 2023, Activision spoke for the first time in the history of Call of Duty about the functioning of matchmaking. However, they only stated that matchmaking combines various factors like skill and latency. Now, the developers have provided more detailed insights.
8 factors, but “skill is not the dominant variable”
What do the developers say about matchmaking? Initially, they avoid the term SBMM and explain that matchmaking considers and prioritizes multiple factors when creating lobbies, contrary to the theory that matchmaking is primarily based on your skills.
In the blog post, they write: “Call of Duty considers skill, like most games in the industry, as one component, but skill is not the dominant variable.”
The various factors that are considered in matchmaking include:
- The connection (“Ping is King”)
- The “time to match” (how long the game search takes)
- Playlist variety
- Recently played maps and game modes
- Skill and performance
- Input device (controller or mouse and keyboard)
- Platform (PC, console)
- Voice chat (is it on or off)
Activision made it clear that your connection is the most important factor with the greatest influence on matchmaking. This makes sense because none of us want to play against people in Brazil or Japan who have a completely different ping than us depending on the server location.
In second place is the time-to-match. Activision emphasizes that it is important for them that players spend time playing and not on the menu screen waiting to find a match.
All other aspects are jointly in third place.
How does skill affect matchmaking? Skill is measured based on a player’s overall performance. To this end, Activision mentions kills, deaths, wins, losses, “and more.” The mode and the most recently played matches also play a role.
However, skill is not only an important factor in finding opponents but also in finding teammates. Additionally, it is a continuous measurement that is constantly updated.
Why is the functioning of matchmaking interesting? SBMM is heavily discussed in the CoD community.
Some players like it because it protects them from matches where they have to play against significantly better players. Others feel intense anger when they think of SBMM and accuse the system of forcing them to play only against the best players in the world.
Some players and YouTubers even manipulate CoD MW3 matchmaking to play more relaxed matches and face weaker opponents: MW3: German YouTuber explains that he finally enjoys the new Call of Duty by tricking the matchmaking
