There are various terms thrown around in gaming that can make things hard to follow at times. If you are playing a competitive game, you likely have heard people mention the letters SBMM. You likely have heard people say this when talking about the online experience in the game. Here is what SBMM means in gaming.
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What does SBMM stand for in video games?
SBMM is an abbreviation of the term Skill-based Matchmaking. This is a term to describe how the game decides to match you up with other players. Using whatever kind of calculations it uses and prioritizes on its side, the game will match you up with other players within the same parameters. Developers put this in their games to try and make sure you are getting as fair of a match as possible. The goal is to prevent anyone from absolutely dominating lesser experienced and talented players. Every game that has SBMM has a different way of handling it.
Lately, SBMM has become a bit of a hot topic in gaming because some streamers and other players don’t like having it in games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. While the vast majority of players will likely not notice much of a difference when it comes to Skill-based Matchmaking, it does have a considerable effect on the highly ranked members of the community. For starters, it can highly extend waiting times to get into a match if you are in the upper echelon of players. The game is trying to find a fair match, but there’s just not many to compete with them.
Another reason people have a problem with it is it promotes being very serious about your gaming at all times. Games typically implement it in all of their matchmaking, whether it is a ranked mode or not. Because of this, playing with friends who are of varying skills can lead to some lopsided games for teams and make certain players feel like they always have to try their hardest to win.
While some players see the negatives in SBMM, there are some positives. As stated above, creating fairer games is a good goal to have. There are some people who dislike SBMM just because they want to dominate games against new players. Wherever you fall on the topic, Skill-based Matchmaking likely is not in its final form, but it’s also not going anywhere any time soon.
