Summary
FormerCall of Dutydeveloper Brian Bright has pushed back against one of Activision’s recent claims about skill-based matchmaking (SBMM), casting doubt on the publisher’s stated timeline for when the series began adopting the polarizing feature. In doing so, the industry veteran added more fuel to the ever-kindling fire that is theCall of Dutyfandom’s perception of SBMM.
The hit shooter series fully embraced skill-based matchmaking with the release of theModern Warfarereboot in 2019. Despite vocal complaints, Activision’sCall of Dutystudios were so far reluctant to even entertain questions about SBMM, much less consider a change in direction. A January 29 blog post from the publisher suggested Activision wants to approach matchmaking more transparently moving forward, in part because of the never-ending criticism of SBMM, which many find to be detrimental to the overall experience because of its tendency to make casual play less accessible.
Among other things, the lengthy write-up saw Activision claim that skill-based matchmaking has been part of the franchise since the originalModern Warfare, which a significant portion of the fandom considers to be thebestCall of Dutygame evermade. And while the 2007 shooter’s cult status is not in doubt, the accuracy of Activision’s stated SBMM timeline has now been called into question by Brian Bright, a former Infinity Ward principal designer who spent around a decade working on theCall of Dutyseries before leaving his long-time employer in 2021.
Taking to Twitter, Bright responded to the claim that the originalModern Warfarehad “considered” player skill in its matchmaking with a combination of a bull and scat emoji, in that order. The colorful rebus unsurprisingly fueled more criticism of the series and its publisher on social media. And while some vocal fans pointed to Bright’s reply as evidence thatCall of Duty’s official statements on SBMMcannot be taken at face value, the claim that the former Infinity Ward developer was refuting did not offer much actual information to rebut in the first place.
Regardless of When It Started, Call of Duty SBMM Doesn’t Seem To Be Going Away
Namely, Activision has never claimed that the current iteration of skill-based matchmaking dates back to 2007, just that its efforts to “consider player performance” when creating multiplayer lobbies do. By itself, that statement is vague enough that it doesn’t necessarily say much of anything, and could simply be referring to the fact that theCall of Dutyteam started looking into skill-based matchmaking back then.
It remains to be seen whether Activision’s efforts at “starting the conversation” aboutCODmatchmaking, which is what its January 29 post was meant to do, invite any more high-profile naysayers of this sort. In the meantime, it is still looking unlikely thatCall of Duty2024 will be moving away from the series' most controversial feature.
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023)
WHERE TO PLAY
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