Modern Warfare 4 Players Complain About SBMM Matchmaking

After Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 launched, complaints started appearing online from players unhappy that the game seems to use only skill-based matchmaking (SBMM) at launch. The game’s multiplayer creative director, Joe Cecot, responded by saying that perfect matchmaking probably doesn’t exist.

Modern Warfare 4 came out on October 23, and right at launch, players noticed there’s no separate open matchmaking option. As a result, lobbies are built mostly around skill level. Interestingly, during the beta, which kicked off on August 21, players could try both classic and open matchmaking while Infinity Ward collected data, but that option is gone now.

Players are already venting on social media. Some are calling the launch “the most miserable experience in the series’ history,” while others compare every lobby to a CDL final, Call of Duty’s pro league, because matchmaking feels unbalanced.

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In an interview with IGN, the Modern Warfare 4 multiplayer creative director admitted he isn’t sure matchmaking can ever be perfected:

I don’t know if there’s perfecting it.

According to him, Infinity Ward’s end goal is for every match to be a good match. He also explained that the team can analyze data and measure whether matchmaking has a negative effect on a certain group of players or a large share of the audience. However, Cecot didn’t explain how matchmaking works in the game or whether the studio plans to bring back open matchmaking.

Activision has previously explained why it favors SBMM. According to company data from tests in Black Ops 7, open matchmaking turned out worse than standard matchmaking for 80% of players:

• players quit matches 32.7% more often;
• kills per minute were 14.4% lower;
• win rates were 5.3% lower;
• there were 59.2% more “Not Fun” ratings.

However, neither Infinity Ward nor Activision has directly linked this data to the decision to drop open matchmaking at Modern Warfare 4’s launch.

Despite the matchmaking complaints, critics have reviewed the game positively overall. Its average score is around 8/10, with outlets calling the matchmaking, map, and spawn issues flaws in an otherwise excellent game.