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[Bernoulli]

For the first time, Call of Duty has released a statement on the series’ matchmaking system (SBMM) which has been a hot topic in the community for years.

Earlier this week, Insider Gaming reported on how players have been exploiting the SBMM matchmaking for years, especially recently with the use of VPNs.

The statement comes just a week after Sledgehammer Games ignored the countless questions over SBMM in a community QA ‘ask me anything’.

The official statement reads, “We know there is a lot of interest in the matchmaking experience, especially around how skill contributes to how lobbies and matches are put together. Nothing is more important to us than the experience players have with the game, and matchmaking is a big part of that. We’ve been working on our matchmaking system for well over ten years, and we continue to spend a ton of time and energy on improving the matchmaking process. This involves people working at our Call of Duty studios, our backend services teams at Demonware, and other groups like our Player Insights team.”

The statement continues, “It’s a large effort that we’ve worked on for many years, and our approach combines latency, search time, and skill, along with many other factors, to try to find the best match experience for you. Talking about this topic in detail can be hard, and we haven’t spent the time to pull together all of our work to share with you our insights and improvements over the many years. We’re looking forward to doing that in the coming weeks after Season 1 launches, and we’ll also make it a part of our ongoing discussions with the community.”

It’s unclear how Call of Duty aims to put at ease the community, but judging by their official response, it won’t be removed. At first glance, it seems like team will be doubling down on its SBMM system.

Call of Duty Releases Statement on SBMM For The First Time - Insider Gaming

For the first time, Call of Duty has released a statement on the series' matchmaking system (SBMM) that has caused controversy.

insider-gaming.com

 

[64bitmodels]

So a nothing response.

Better to not have said anything at all.

 

[adamsapple]

The sentient being that is Call of Duty released a message?

What a weird header lol (not you Bern, the article has the same header).

 

[Punished Miku]

So a nothing response.

Better to not have said anything at all.

They basically said we've researched this extensively for a decade and have more data on it than we can even explain to you, but we'll try and do a better job in the future of making this more public facing and incorporating feedback in the future. Sounds ... honest?

 

[Shifty1897]

The current Warzone SBMM is a good idea, but executed poorly. You win one game and the next day you're thrown into a lobby with pro league players and get annihilated/0 kills for a few days until you eventually get bumped down to where you should be. There just needs to be a more gradual increase in ranking, and I feel like your player ranking should be communicated to yourself and others.

 

[[Sigma]]

From a far(as a person who hasn't played COD multplayer in at least 10+ years) this SBMM shit is wild to me. It has in turn sparked other conspiracies too lol.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

When I see SBMM, I immediately think it's about smash bros melee. Still not use to seeing that acronym.

 

[Bridges]

I just don't understand, this always seemed so simple to me.

Have a ranked mode with SBMM
Have an unranked mode without

Problem solved

 

[Quantum253]

we haven’t spent the time to pull together all of our work to share with you our insights and improvements over the many years.

This statement doesn't sound right. You don't develop and test a system for years and not have the details ready to share with share holders/public/holding interest or even upper management. I'm sure what they really mean is we need time to manipulate the data to support or narrative.

 

[twilo99]

I just don't understand, this always seemed so simple to me.

Have a ranked mode with SBMM
Have an unranked mode without

Problem solved

I like that

 

[diffusionx]

I just don't understand, this always seemed so simple to me.

Have a ranked mode with SBMM
Have an unranked mode without

Problem solved

Any game with matchmaking is going to do things to lump players in in some way, even unranked modes. The problem is that COD's is so ham-handed and obviously manipulative. It doesnt let you have a consistent experience because it's either putting you in games where you get dominated or games you dominate. They do this because they believe, their data, their psychologists, whatever, is what maximizes "engagement", so to them, turning that off for some modes is a mistake.

 

[Quixz]

All the reverse boosting has finally forced a response LOL

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

Any game with matchmaking is going to do things to lump players in in some way, even unranked modes. The problem is that COD's is so ham-handed and obviously manipulative. It doesnt let you have a consistent experience because it's either putting you in games where you get dominated or games you dominate. They do this because they believe, their data, their psychologists, whatever, is what maximizes "engagement", so to them, turning that off for some modes is a mistake.

They want every pure casual player to be around 1 KD and 1 WL

 

[VideoGameEnjoyer]

'Working on it for 10 years'

Never been worse.

 

[Calverz]

This is a small statement before they fully address it later after a youtuber leaked earlier today that they would officially talk about it.

 

[howitis3]

There are slightly above average players mad that they play people their skill lvl because they want to only play and troll noobs. Fuck those guys

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

There are slightly above average players mad that they play people their skill lvl because they want to only play and troll noobs. Fuck those guys

Not at all what its about for me.

I HATE they put my in higher ping lobbies to try and even out the skill level

I can play Ground War with sometimes single digit pings but wait in 6 v 6 with sometimes pings close to 100 to try and match me

Fuck that, prioritize ping and let God sort em out

 

[lughnasadh123]

There are slightly above average players mad that they play people their skill lvl because they want to only play and troll noobs. Fuck those guys

The whole reason why people want to get rid of SBMM.

People getting mad for having to "get sweaty". Well yes, you should have to try to win. Having an easy game means the other side is struggling even more because the match is so damn lopsided.

 

[BigLee74]

Whatever the fuck they have, it doesn’t work. Just tapped out early tonight after 2 games in a row where I languished at the bottom of the leaderboard with 6 or 7 kills in the 10v10 moshpit playlist, whilst leading players were on 50+.

These low TTK/shitty guns combined with what is obviously not a UK server (you know the kind - you are running forward like treacle then you suddenly lurch forward - repeat) are killing this game for me.

I didn’t like MW2 much, but it never played as bad as this. Heck, right now I even preferred Vanguards MP.

And oh yeah, Rust is absolute dogshit!

And relax…

 

[Spukc]

IT'S FUN because fuck influwank streamers

 

[Holammer]

I just don't understand, this always seemed so simple to me.

Have a ranked mode with SBMM
Have an unranked mode without

Problem solved

Queue times for SBMM would increase as the player base got divided.
Some may say it's for the better, but Activision wants to be a serious E-Sport and all that jazz too.

 

[Bridges]

Queue times for SBMM would increase as the player base got divided.
Some may say it's for the better, but Activision wants to be a serious E-Sport and all that jazz too.

If players were presented the options and then one of those options died, then that should tell them that the players don't want SBMM.

I don't think the idea of SBMM is a bad idea but it seems to always be implemented in a way that leaves people more frustrated than if you just jumped lobby to lobby with randoms back in the OG MW2

 

[Quantum253]

I just don't understand, this always seemed so simple to me.

Have a ranked mode with SBMM
Have an unranked mode without

Problem solved

But you must cater to the casual player and prevent highly/moderately skilled players from wiping the floor with them. If they are constantly losing they won't stick around long enough to buy all the microtransactions and DLCs. And since high skilled players could go into an unranked lobby, it would drive the casuals out (or those that would have to buy the skins/weapons/season rewards) since they aren't good enough to unlock (or put in the time).

 

[TheZink]

Whatever the fuck they have, it doesn’t work. Just tapped out early tonight after 2 games in a row where I languished at the bottom of the leaderboard with 6 or 7 kills in the 10v10 moshpit playlist, whilst leading players were on 50+.

These low TTK/shitty guns combined with what is obviously not a UK server (you know the kind - you are running forward like treacle then you suddenly lurch forward - repeat) are killing this game for me.

I didn’t like MW2 much, but it never played as bad as this. Heck, right now I even preferred Vanguards MP.

And oh yeah, Rust is absolute dogshit!

And relax…

I feel your pain.

 

[Crew511A]

They want every pure casual player to be around 1 KD and 1 WL

Which amazingly enough, is exactly what my stats are FOR MW2.

 

[Grildon Tundy]

My frustration is the lack of unbiased feedback. I play enough COD that I legitimately want to get better, but how can I tell if it was my change in tactics that made me play better/worse or if the SBMM pulled levers in the shadows?

It's like trying to have a conversation with someone you can't trust.

 

[twilo99]

'Working on it for 10 years'

Never been worse.

From their perspective it’s probably the best it’s ever been and from a player’s perspective it’s the worst, which is really worst case scenario :/

 

[NickFire]

Anyone else getting a lot of crashes tonight (PS5)?

 

[SlimySnake]

the last good experience i had in cod games was in blops 3. I could go 2:1, 3:1 and 4:1 on a regular basis. I had my bad games but they were mostly 1 kdr games.

what made it fair was that they would pair me up with some of the dumbest human beings known to mankind. people couldnt shoot for shit. so if i was the best player in the lobby, they would give me the bottom 7 players and i would have to carry them against players ranked 2-9 my win loss was roughly 1:1 but i never felt like i was in constant sweaty matches.

Blops 2 was even better. But i mostly only played it on the wii u where i was probably playing against 5 years olds.

here is a scorecard i saved back in the day in blops 3. it shows how the lobbies were split. i never liked it back then but i now prefer to it sbmm.

 

[PSYGN]

Misleading title, CoD: Advanced Warfare introduced the amped up SBMM and talked about it https://gamerant.com/call-of-duty-sbmm-activision/

 

[Audiophile]

Working on it for 10yrs....yes, with the purpose of attach rate and total player retention. Not actual enjoyment.

It's just not an organic experience anymore. I do well, next few games suck, I do bad, next few games I kill it, rinse/repeat... It used to be a spectrum of experiences that felt random and you could grow over time. Now you're just being endlessly gamed and getting effectively the same experiences over and over.

SBMM should be for ranked only. Outside of that you just have a few protected tiers and very loose matchmaking.

They're gonna steadily erode their core base and the bulk of those left will be a wider audience of fickle casuals that'll bail when they're bored. It'll do well for a few more years, but it'll trail off if the series doesn't get a kick up the arse and if they don't temper SBMM.

Also, disbanding lobbies sucks. I WANT MY REVENGE!!

I don't know anyone who plays COD anymore -- between aggressive SBMM, subsequent shitty pings, disbanding lobbies, dreadfully overpriced mtx and awful storefronts, [the hideous UI/UX in MWII & III], the always changing playlists and the franchise offering so much hope with MW 2019 only to go completely down the pan -- they've all just lost interest.

 

[TransTrender]

Isn't this all intentional so you drop money in the shop for whatever advantage you can buy, and grind out matches for rank unlocks? Just make shit super sweaty all the time?

 

[Nvzman]

There are slightly above average players mad that they play people their skill lvl because they want to only play and troll noobs. Fuck those guys

No the system is intentionally fucking you over by giving you terrible teammates and then the other team is all players either above your skill level or even, so its basically rigging you to lose.

Its happened consistently every goddamn game since MW2019 and its so immensely annoying and completely ruins the fun of a casual shooter when the game is basically forcing you to sweat your ass off to not play like shit. For example, I manage to get pretty above average stats in most CoD games using whatever guns I want, then with the newer ones every match then devolves into absolute pro-level lobbies where every player on the other team is using meta streamer loadouts and I'm struggling my ass off going even and my teammates are 3 kills 20 deaths feeding streaks constantly to the enemy team.

Its fucking stupid and rewarding bad players by giving them easy lobbies (so they don't get turned off from playing the game and buy more skins!) is equally dumb. If you suck, get good. Why the fuck should good players be punished instead?

The SBMM from BO2 and BO3 was basically perfect, it had a GENERAL idea of your skill level so it didn't just throw you in with straight noobs all the time, but it was just a general range so you didn't feel like every game was a ranked match. You could actually use whatever you want and have fun.

 

[PlayerPurple]

I just don't understand, this always seemed so simple to me.

Have a ranked mode with SBMM
Have an unranked mode without

Problem solved

What happens when a noob wants to play for the first time, selects unranked, and keeps getting matched with vets who only enjoy stomping noobs?

 

[DaleinCalgary]

At least it did well on reviews

 

[Nvzman]

What happens when a noob wants to play for the first time, selects unranked, and keeps getting matched with vets who only enjoy stomping noobs?

Then they get better over time? Like literally every multiplayer game in the past 20+ years?
Do you need training wheels on your first bike tour too?

 

[PlayerPurple]

Then they get better over time?

That, or they go play something else.

Which do you think most players do?

 

[StreetsofBeige]

What happens when a noob wants to play for the first time, selects unranked, and keeps getting matched with vets who only enjoy stomping noobs?

COD random lobbies were around for years before their SBMM system got implemented. COD sales were just as good if not higher. And back then it was even tougher for low skilled gamers since it was slower paced, had endless pave low and chopper gunners, and guns had lots of recoil.

A low skilled gamer picking up an SMG and running around got destroyed. But I think unit sales were the highest during the 360/PS3 era. Nobody cared, lobbies were fast, you could play with the same players and people had fun.

In random lobbies there's only so many ultra skilled gamers per match. Someone would be pretty unlucky getting a team of bad players and the other team are all vets. I also think a lot of vets who enjoy competition will play ranked mode for all the XP, emblems, prestiging etc... that comes from ranked.

 

[Bridges]

What happens when a noob wants to play for the first time, selects unranked, and keeps getting matched with vets who only enjoy stomping noobs?

Some of the earlier battlefields and I think Rainbow Six Siege have playlists where you only match with new low level people, but once you get to rank 5 or 10 or something you can't access it anymore. I feel like that's a pretty good solution to this.

My other answer would be they'd leave and find a new lobby and eventually end up somewhere they will have fun, just like in the old days

 

[StreetsofBeige]

The current Warzone SBMM is a good idea, but executed poorly. You win one game and the next day you're thrown into a lobby with pro league players and get annihilated/0 kills for a few days until you eventually get bumped down to where you should be. There just needs to be a more gradual increase in ranking, and I feel like your player ranking should be communicated to yourself and others.

When it comes to SBMM, all game studios have to do to make it faster, less sweaty and you can play with the same lobby for a bt before SBMM changes your placement is simply this:

- Out of the millions of gamers, there's only maybe 6-10 tiers. This allows gamers in a tier a wide enough range of gamers that can be better or worse than them. As you play well or bad, you move a tier up or down

- Gamers get their profile ranked maybe every 20 or 30 games (I made up a range, but perhaps it's 50). This would allow gamers to play with the same lobby, matches dont get delayed loading new players, and this allows gamers a stretch of games to play well or play bad before being shuffled to a new tier. Think of it like sports. Players getting called up or sent down do not shuffle up or down every game (unless there's an injury and someone is an emergency sub for a few games). Typically players called up get a chance to prove themselves and players sent down are forced to stay there for a bit. Just because a player goes 0/4 or 0/8 in baseball doesn't mean he immediately gets sent down, nor does player in the minors going hot 6/8 gets called up and bats clean up. There's a stretch of time for evaluation before shuffling people around

 

[Nvzman]

That, or they go play something else.

Which do you think most players do?

Okay but that still doesn't answer the question; why punish good players then? Why is that their fault? I know the obvious reason for Activision ($$$) but from a game design standpoint the SBMM solution is shitty. Stop hand-holding bad players.

The amusing part is some games like CSGO/2 have like zero SBMM (like less than cod ever had) in their casual modes and yet they are always packed with players and usually having fun. The "SBMM is needed for pubstompers" argument never made any sense and its usually the exact players benefiting from this crap that are defending it in the first place because God forbid they actually have to improve.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

What happens when a noob wants to play for the first time, selects unranked, and keeps getting matched with vets who only enjoy stomping noobs?

There used to be a term called Christmas noobs for all the kids who came in after Christmas and we all feasted on them for a few weeks as it should be.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

I just don't understand, this always seemed so simple to me.

Have a ranked mode with SBMM
Have an unranked mode without

Problem solved

The problem with that idea (though I like it) is that all the gamers funneling to unranked mode will be casuals or competitive gamers who dont want to grind it out anymore. So that means the whole thing about stat leaderboards, leveling up and prestiging, trying to show off achievements, unlocks and mtx are basically thrown out the window. A lot of casual mode gamers wont really give a shit.

And that means less mtx money for GAAS game makers.

I have no proof of it since I dont work at game companies and no studio has ever shown their books, but IMO there's going to be more GAAS money made when everyone is funneled into ranked modes than having people goof around in unranked lobbies.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Some of the earlier battlefields and I think Rainbow Six Siege have playlists where you only match with new low level people, but once you get to rank 5 or 10 or something you can't access it anymore. I feel like that's a pretty good solution to this.

My other answer would be they'd leave and find a new lobby and eventually end up somewhere they will have fun, just like in the old days

World at War I think is the only COD game that had a similar system. When you play MP for the first time, you get put into the noob lobby which maxes out at level 8. Once you hit that level and leave, you're on your own.

For studios afraid too many low skilled gamers will leave right away, then just have all gamers under level 20 or 30 play together so they can improve their skills while not having to worry about being put into lobbies with high stat level 40-55 gamers who already prestiged and seem good.

I'll keep playing the game as I'll go through it, but I guess the algorithm thinks I am a decent player since I was getting put into lobbies where almost all are level 55 already and I'm like level 28. There will be me and another guy at a relatively low level and every other gamer is 55. And these lobbies are mostly hard matches. Now I'm level 45-ish and there's a good chance all other gamers are 55 now.

 

[Mephisto40]

Although SBMM doesn't really bother me, I still find it strange how they seem to want to keep this entire thing in the dark, like if they revealed how the matchmaking works it would seriously damage their reputation as developers or something

 

[Soulja]

What pisses me off is the fact that I play domination but the SBMM puts me against people who only play for kills and never capture flags. Instead of putting me in lobbies where people go 50-3 with 0 captures, why don't you put me in lobbies that are filled with people that also play the fucking objective.

If I'm in an objective based game mode and I'm getting 7 captures because I actually want to win, rather than just worry about my K/D... Why can't I also play with/against people who capture flags and it will actually make for an interesting and engaging match.

 

[Paasei]

There’s a very easy fix for this kind of shit:
Dedicated servers instead of lobbies

 

[STARSBarry]

SBMM means you have to constantly play your best or get stomped into the dirt. I think it's the leading cause of older gamers moving away from competitive FPS, I remember in Halo I got Onyx and then didn't play ranked again because it wasent any fun. Then I realised the game just was not fun anyway and uninstalled. Later I found out that was because ranked and unranked shared the same SBMM and used the game splits, if you did well in unranked it would rate you the same for your first ranked game and put you up against absolute gods.

These days I play Hell Let Loose, which thanks to its dedicated servers means every match is filled with a mixture of pro, casual and sweaty players. You never know what your going to bump into and I'm having more fun in a PvP shooter than I have in years. Sure sometimes your getting wipped out by a squad you can't even see who flanked. But on the other hand sometimes your that squad.

Quickplay and SBMM is one of the ease of access changes that gave rise to the cheater problem (dedicated servers have their own admins, and they prune them fast) and also games just being sweat fests. Honestly community dedicated servers are just night and day in how people play and talk, it's like the toxicity dropped from 9.5 to 2.

 

[PectacularOz]

I just don't understand, this always seemed so simple to me.

Have a ranked mode with SBMM
Have an unranked mode without

Problem solved

Fortnite solved this ages ago.

Now if they could turn off the on-by-default crossplay, maybe Ranked would be playable.

 

[wipeout364]

I like SBMM, it is way more engaging than the old COD games for people that are casual players. After a couple of hundred hours of MW2. My stats say I won 50% of matches and had a K/D slightly over One. I had some terrible games and some games where I dominated.

Before SBMM there was so many games where the lobby was completely one sided where the opposing team was constantly dropping killstreaks. That is not fun and blowouts ruin the game experience. People have limits to their ability to improve and SBMM tries to recognize this and avoid those situations.

The sweatfest comment comes up a lot and I don’t understand what it means. Don’t people always generally try to play to win or to do well?