MW3 players claim devs aren’t “fooling anyone” after SBMM statement
Nathan Warby
On January 29 Activision finally published a blog explaining how matchmaking works in Modern Warfare 3 and other CoD multiplayer. However, players still aren’t convinced about some of the factors that go into creating lobbies and how important they are.
Matchmaking has been a hot topic in Call of Duty for many years, and this trend continued in Modern Warfare 3. Many players felt that skill-based matchmaking was placing them into difficult lobbies after a few good performances, essentially penalizing them for playing well.
Although most of the community accepted that SBMM was in effect, the devs had never officially addressed how lobbies are put together in MW3 and other CoD games. That changed on January 29, 2024, when Activision released an in-depth explainer on matchmaking in Call of Duty.
The blog highlighted all of the factors considered when searching for a match, which included skill but also mentioned voice chat and playlist diversity among others. However, the claims about how connection plays a role have caused plenty of backlash from the community.
According to the devs, “Ping is King,” meaning that connection is “the most critical and heavily weighted factor in the matchmaking process,” and the second most important element is “time to match.” But, players have reacted negatively to these sections, arguing they don’t match their experiences in-game.