Activision reveals how SBMM works in Call of Duty

Skill-based matchmaking (SBMM) has been part of the online competitive gaming community for a long time. However, gamers are convinced that it does not work the intended way at all.

Even more so in the case of Call of Duty games. The company has been criticized for SBMM for the last few years. Now, Activision have finally revealed the working of SBMM in Call of Duty games.

So how does it work?

In an extensive breakdown, the developers revealed that it does not work the way most people think it does. “The single, biggest priority with respect to Multiplayer matchmaking is delivering a fun experience to our players,” the statement said.

There are a lot of things that affect matchmaking. The most important of them all is the player’s connection. Others include Time to Match, Skill, Platform, Voice Chat, Input Device, Recent Maps, and Playlist Diversity.

The SBMM also takes note of the player's performance and how it is affected when pitted against better players. A misconception as per the developers is that players think if you play well, you will face better opponents.

While true to some extent, the SBMM also puts the players with other better players. “Skill is not only a factor in matchmaking players against appropriate enemies but also when finding teammates,” another statement said.

Why do people hate SBMM?

Without SBMM, anyone can match against anyone. A pro can match with a random person playing for the first time. While the pro will have an easy time, the player who just started will have the opposite.

Another reason is that the content creators will have a better chance of making those compilations against low-skill players. This once again leads to the first situation of only one party having fun.

“We use player performance to ensure that the disparity between the most skilled player in the lobby and the least skilled player in the lobby isn’t so vast that players feel their match is a waste of time,” said the developers.