Call of Duty franchise use what’s called skill-based matchmaking (SBMM). Each player is given an SBMM rating based on multiple aspects of their in-game performance, which then determines who they play against. In theory, this keeps multiplayer games more balanced than if matchmaking was done completely at random.
Players are naturally curious to know what their SBMM rating is, and how that compares to other players’ scores. However, SBMM ratings aren’t displayed in-game the same way other stats like win rate or K/D ratios are. Luckily, it isn’t impossible to find SBMM ratings, although it does require jumping through a few hoops, and a bit of a wait. Still, competitive Call of Duty players likely won’t mind if it means getting a greater insight into how their performance is being tracked and what this means for their matchmaking lobbies.
How To Get Call Of Duty’s Hidden SBMM Ratings
Players Need To Request The Info From Activision
Credit for this method of finding one’s SBMM rating should go to YouTuber TheXclusiveAce, who popularized it in the video “How to See your Hidden Skill Rating in Call of Duty!” To start, you need to go to Activision’s dedicated site, and navigate to the Privacy & Data Protection page. Then, click on the Submit a New Request icon, which will drop a privacy agreement. After agreeing and entering one’s location information, the page should move onto the request submission page. This page does sometimes return an error, but simply going back and trying again should work.
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On the next page, you will be prompted to select which type of request you want to submit. For SBMM ratings, you will want to select the first option in blue: “Access My Personal Information (Subject Access Request).” After that, there is a prompt to to any s connected to Call of Duty. After the information is entered, the request is submitted. It will take a few days for the request to go through and be processed, possibly longer now that more players are aware of how to do this. The results will be sent via email.
What Is SBMM In Call Of Duty?
SBMM Dictates What Lobbies Players Are Placed Into
A player’s SBMM rating determines which players they are matched up with during online play. This rating is communicated via a number; for example, TheXclusiveAce was given a series of ratings, mostly hovering between 300 and 400. While there is no indication what the maximum these numbers can reach is, it does seem clear that a better performance results in a higher number. That said, there are a lot of factors that seem to determine a skill rating, which means it takes into more than just a player’s K/D or overall score from a match.
The data incorporates everything from the number of shots taken in a match to how much a player moved. This means things like accuracy and mobility are also taken into when determining a player’s overall SBMM rating. Additionally, it isn’t clear exactly how these skills are being weighed against one another. As seen in TheXclusiveAce’s graph on his video, some matches with higher in-game scores still returned a lower skill rating.
Although players may be curious to know their own SBMM rating, the data on its own will likely not tell you too much. Until a large group of Call of Duty players come together to analyze and compare data, it will be hard to know exactly what it all means. Of course, if this does happen, it could reshape how players view the game. Players may become more concerned with more obscure stats like movement to try and game the system and get put in lower lobbies for easier wins.
Another factor that seems to influence matchmaking is the combined SBMM of a group that enters a lobby together. Some players have likely noticed that, when matched up with certain friends, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 or Warzone matches suddenly seem a lot easier or harder. This is because the game adjusts in some way to accommodate the SBMM rating of all players in a group. How exactly this calculation is done, however, is still unclear.
Sources: TheXclusiveAce/YouTube, Activision
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
-
- Top Critic Avg: 83/100 Critics Rec: 92%
- Released
- October 25, 2024
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Suggestive Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
- Developer(s)
- Treyarch, Raven Software
- Publisher(s)
- Activision
- Engine
- IW 9.0
As tensions rise during the Gulf War, Black Ops veterans find themselves facing a covert group within the CIA, now branded as traitors. Players navigate intense missions across new multiplayer modes, including dynamic environments and innovative features like body shields, while the Zombies mode returns with classic round-based action and new maps.
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op
- Franchise
- Call of Duty
- Split Screen Orientation
- Vertical or Horizontal
- Platform(s)
- PC
- Local Co-Op
- 1-2 Players
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