Summary
Skill-Based Matchmaking (SBMM) has been one of the most controversial features inCall of Dutyfor many, many iterations now. The debate about the function kicked up again around the launch ofCall of Duty: Black Ops 6and hasraged within that game’s community ever since.
Whilst many details of the SBMM algorithm have remained under wraps, a new interview betweenInsider Gamingand MMR (matchmaking rating) algorithm creator Charlie Olsen has shed light on things, with the latter suggesting it can be, at times, “unfair”.
Call Of Duty’s Skill-Based Matchmaking “Takes Away The Sense OF Skill And Mastery”
Speaking at DICE, Olsen shared his thoughts on the feature he helped to create. Insider Gaming reports that while Olsen feels that SBMM is vital for long-term sustainability in live-service titles, he thinks it is laden with issues.
“The massive problem with SBMM, though, is that you don’t know what league you’re in anymore," he says. “SBMM takes away the sense of skill and mastery. There’s less skill feedback, stats don’t matter as much, KD is less of a bragging right; it’s a serious design problem really.”
There’s less skill feedback, stats don’t matter as much, KD is less of a bragging right; it’s a serious design problem really.
“If you are trying to get better at the game, SBMM just rewards you with tougher opponents,” Olsen shares. “I’d even say that SBMM punishes players for being good. That’s unfair, and players are right to complain about it.”
Olsen told Insider Gaming that he once pitched a system that rewarded players with XP based on the average skill of their opponents to Activision multiple times. He suggested that this would be the best solution to the ongoing problem, but a lack of bandwidth and the fact that “most designers just don’t know much about how MMR works and therefore aren’t comfortable using it as a component for design” meant that the idea was shut down on every occasion.
