Mark Rubin, who was an government producer at Infinity Ward till 2015, has shared that he’s “not a fan” of the skill-based matchmaking system that’s current in Call of Duty and different multiplayer video games.
Ahead of Modern Warfare 2 launching tomorrow (October 28), the Call of Duty group has debated whether or not the inclusion of skill-based matchmaking (SBMM) is optimistic or adverse for the sport. SBMM refers to a function that places gamers in opposition to opponents that the sport thinks are roughly equal to them in talent, with the intention of making fairer matches.
This week, Rubin took to Twitter (through The Loadout) to clarify that he’s “not a fan” of SBMM, and felt that it was “being pushed on us from the top” whereas he was at Infinity Ward.
“You should be in a match that has players better than you and worse than you,” argued Rubin. “The experience then is more varied and as long as the team balancing is fair you still have a chance to win your match. And you get to see yourself get better over time.”
Earlier as we speak (October 27), Rubin posted a extra in-depth criticism of SBMM and defined why he isn’t a fan of the system – although clarified that he’s “not here to say that people who like SBMM are wrong or that people who don’t want SBMM are right.”
“When you play a game using strict SBMM you are playing with and against a group of players that are for the most part just like you. They have a similar skill level and probably play in a similar way as you,” defined Rubin. “On paper that sounds kind of fair. And you would be right if strict competition is your goal. And I am fine having that kind of experience in a ranked mode where there is a goal and reward for competing.”
However, Rubin argues that with SBMM gamers will “get an experience where every match feels the same,” and defined that “if you start to improve your skills you will probably get a few games where you feel a bit dominant but don’t worry, the algorithm will bring you back to the same stale experience shortly.”
Rubin, who’s at the moment an government producer at Ubisoft and dealing on the studio’s upcoming shooter XDefiant, mentioned that he’s “in favour of removing SBMM from casual play because I want players to have a varied experience.”
“To me the key [to] a great gaming experience is this variety,” continued Rubin. “I want to play against players better than me and I want to feel proud of being one of the better players in a match. And I feel that SBMM takes away that variety and makes me play the same match over and over again.”
In the launch patch for Modern Warfare 2, Infinity Ward has addressed suggestions concerning the sport’s matchmaking by saying it has made some adjustments to scale back foyer disbandment between matches.
