Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is unlikely to make changes to Skill-Based Matchmaking, as Activision outlines exactly why SBMM is utilized.
One of the most common complaints with modern Call of Duty titles is the severity of its SBMM.
The feature has proven unpopular with high-skill players in recent years, and is a regular talking point for COD content creators, yet Activision rarely wants to acknowledge SBMM, let alone change it.
But now the studio has delved into exactly why SBMM is used, and why it’s unlikely to ever get rid of Skill-Based Matchmaking in Black Ops 6 or beyond.
Will Black Ops 6 Change SBMM?
No, it is unlikely that Black Ops 6 will change SBMM implementation for this year’s Call of Duty title.
The feature will most likely remain as it has in previous COD titles, as evidenced by Activision’s ‘An Inside Look at Matchmaking‘ blog post and, more recently, in the ‘Matchmaking Intel White Paper #2‘.
For those unaware, Skill-Based Matchmaking (or SBMM) is a feature that aims to place players in lobbies that match their skill level.
While on paper, this sounds like a good thing, high-skill players end up frustrated at the feature, which permanently restricts them to ‘sweaty’ lobbies full of users abusing the most meta of meta weapons.
On April 4, 2024, Activision finally acknowledged the presence of Skill-Based Matchmaking in its games by giving us an in-depth look into how Call of Duty handles finding lobbies in online Multiplayer.
Although the publisher claims that the biggest influence behind matchmaking time is player connection (AKA Ping Is King), it also explained the decision behind SBMM.
“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.”
By Activision’s own admittance, this matchmaking style results in players of all skill levels experiencing wins and losses ‘more proportionately.’
For Activision, SBMM Is a Good Thing
However, the company also states that its data shows that lower skill players who are consistently losing games are more likely to leave mid-game, or stop playing altogether.
During a MW3 Multiplayer test, Activision tried reducing skill factor in matchmaking for 50% of players in North America.
The results speak for themselves, showing a massive decline in low-average skill players returning to the game, and only the very best of the best increasing their playtime.
An important factor in Activision’s decision-making lies here. If Skill-Based Matchmaking is changed, the company risks losing players who could spend money on their product.
As players leave, the issues will snowball. Fewer players mean longer waiting times, which could cause others to quit the game, too.
Not only will this hurt the company’s bottom line, but it also means bad news for elite players. Without SBMM, lower-skill players are proven to quit the game sooner, leaving only the high-skill users to compete with.
“The highest-skilled players are likely to get more matches where they could blow out the competition in the short term, but when that occurs the competition tends to play less, and the result is that the player pool shrinks overall.”
Of course, lower player counts mean poor metrics for Activision’s investors, and fans who quit playing Black Ops 6 are less likely to purchase Infinity Ward’s next title in 2025.
Before these blog posts, the company had been reluctant to acknowledge Skill-Based Matchmaking, and would reportedly avoid answering questions about it at in-person events such as COD NEXT.
Now that Activision is being far more open about how it handles matchmaking, we think it’s highly unlikely that we’ll get any changes to SBMM in Black Ops 6, or indeed any future COD titles.
It’s worth noting that the company hasn’t confirmed specific details about SBMM in Black Ops 6 as of yet. However, we don’t think fans should expect the company to deviate from its matchmaking plans after releasing such an extensive explanation.
For now, the company has made no statements regarding Skill-Based Matchmaking in Black Ops 6. We’ll keep you updated if that changes.