MW3 players claim devs aren’t “fooling anyone” after SBMM statement
ActivisionOn January 29 Activision finally published a blog explaining how matchmaking works in Modern Warfare 3 and other CoD multiplayer. However, players still aren’t convinced about some of the factors that go into creating lobbies and how important they are.
Matchmaking has been a hot topic in Call of Duty for many years, and this trend continued in Modern Warfare 3. Many players felt that skill-based matchmaking was placing them into difficult lobbies after a few good performances, essentially penalizing them for playing well.
Although most of the community accepted that SBMM was in effect, the devs had never officially addressed how lobbies are put together in MW3 and other CoD games. That changed on January 29, 2024, when Activision released an in-depth explainer on matchmaking in Call of Duty.
The blog highlighted all of the factors considered when searching for a match, which included skill but also mentioned voice chat and playlist diversity among others. However, the claims about how connection plays a role have caused plenty of backlash from the community.
According to the devs, “Ping is King,” meaning that connection is “the most critical and heavily weighted factor in the matchmaking process,” and the second most important element is “time to match.” But, players have reacted negatively to these sections, arguing they don’t match their experiences in-game.
“As if connection has anything to do with the matchmaking. They ain’t fooling anyone,” said ‘JT’ in response to the X post above, before another added: “If connection was top priority, then I wouldn’t lag at random times in matches and die. That’s some lies right there.”
The debate continued over on Reddit, with players arguing that their lobbies change drastically after a string of strong performances and that skill must be more important than the blog lets on.
“I rolled my eyes when they said ping is king,” said one player. “Without fail after I have a couple good games in a row my ping doubles or triples the next couple of games.”
Another weighed in: “That’s some bulls**t article. Although I do feel many coincidences arise, and players blame the wrong things, there’s still definitely something wrong with this multiplayer.”
So, although many MW3 players have welcomed the transparency from the devs, many still feel as though there is more to learn about matchmaking. It’s been confirmed that more information will be released about Ping, as well as matchmaking in Warzone and MW3 Ranked Play, in the future.
