Activision Quietly Turned Down CoD's Skill-Based Matchmaking Resulting In A Lot Less Fun

Attention Call of Duty players who constantly bemoan the implementation of skill-based matchmaking (SBMM) in the first-person shooter, you may just be wrong, and Activision is bringing out the stats and analysis to prove it.

If there is anything you've ever wanted to know about SBMM, Activision just posted a VERY lengthy report on the tool. Walking through charts and graphs galore, the paper provides a very in-depth look at how the system works and exactly what "skill" means. It's an interesting, if somewhat heavy, read. If you're curious, certainly check it out.

However, the big piece that I think does need to be called out is a secret test the team ran in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III last year. This isn't the first time the team has run similar tests, but this time we get to see behind the curtain.

For the test, 50% of the shooter's NA population had their SBMM turned down incrementally over time. Now, to be clear, the system was never fully shut down since previous tests already showed that would be a mistake.

The results? The returning player rate was down for 90% of players. Only the top 10% highest skill players bothered coming back. The quit rate increased across 80% of players when compared to the control group that had no SBMM decrease. Blowouts (losing Team Deathmatch by more than a 30 score delta) increased, too.

In short, unless you were very skilled in the game already, the average player had a bad time and weren't enjoying themselves or coming back as often to play again.

Not really a surprise, but certainly something to consider if you're an "Average Joe/Jane" the next time you decide to complain about SBMM ruining the game.