The Call of Duty developer who created the game’s Matchmaking Rating (MMR) system explained why the franchise will not get rid of skill-based matchmaking. Skill-based matchmaking, often abbreviated as SBMM, has been a contentious topic in the Call of Duty community for many years now, and debates haven’t stopped during Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 2.

SBMM is a matchmaking system in Call of Duty that uses players’ skills and statistics to group them in lobbies with opponents that have similar characteristics. The system is designed to protect new players while giving more experienced players a fair and competitive online experience. However, many Call of Duty fans have argued for years that SBMM has its flaws and can be damaging to the community over time, since it favors newcomers and puts less weight on players’ network connections during the matchmaking process.

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In an Insider Gaming interview, former Raven Software developer and MMR algorithm creator Charlie Olsen explained that SBMM will never be removed and explained why it’s necessary for Call of Duty. According to Olsen, SBMM and MMR are essential to promoting long-term sustainability and player engagement for Call of Duty. SBMM ensures players aren’t the weak link to their teams repeatedly, and “high-skill players don’t like carrying a team of potatoes all the time,” Olsen said. Although SBMM will likely never go away, Olsen understands the community’s complaints and believes there should be some changes to it, since the matchmaking system “takes away a sense of skill and mastery” from players. Olsen explains that SBMM in its current form has a serious design problem due to the lack of skill feedback and its tendency to punish skilled players by continuously matching them with strong opponents.

Former Raven Software Developer Charlie Olsen Reveals Why Call of Duty Won’t Get Rid of SBMM

• Despite concerns from fans, SBMM won’t be removed due to how crucial it is for Call of Duty’s long-term sustainability and player engagement.
• SBMM evens the playing field by protecting less-skilled players and giving high-skill players better teammates and skilled opponents.
• Olsen believes SBMM’s current design is flawed since it punishes skilled players and “takes away a sense of skill and mastery.”

Olsen suggested some improvements to SBMM for Call of Duty, such as the ability to see the average skill of opponents in lobbies and incentivize players by offering XP multipliers for facing strong opponents. The former Call of Duty developer believes players shouldn’t need to file a personal data request with Activision to see their MMR ratings, either. Since a player’s MMR rating fluctuates based on performance, it could benefit players to observe how their ratings change directly in the game.

Olsen attempted to pitch updated SBMM and MMR systems for Call of Duty multiple times, including a meeting at Infinity Ward during development of 2019’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Pitches like these are an “uphill battle” outside of ideas from the main studio, and Olsen reveals that the ideas to improve MMR never caught on since most designers don’t know much about how the system works. Although Olsen’s pitches and ideas didn’t turn into actual changes, he believes that players have the right to complain about SBMM in its current state.

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