Summary
- SBMM in Call of Duty has been a controversial feature for many iterations.
- MMR algorithm creator Charlie Olsen believes SBMM takes away from skill and mastery.
- Olsen suggests a system that rewards players based on opponents’ skill, but it was shut down due to a lack of understanding.
Skill-Based Matchmaking (SBMM) has been one of the most controversial features in Call of Duty for many, many iterations now. The debate about the function kicked up again around the launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and has raged within that game’s community ever since.
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Whilst many details of the SBMM algorithm have remained under wraps, a new interview between Insider Gaming and 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.
- Released
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October 25, 2024
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Suggestive Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs