Nadeshot calls for Treyarch to ‘dial back’ SBMM in Cold War
Former professional Call of Duty player and 100 Thieves owner Matthew ‘Nadeshot’ Haag has voiced his concerns over Cold War’s Skill-based Matchmaking system.
Starting in Modern Warfare last year, players have complained about the level of skill-based matchmaking (SBMM) in multiplayer and Warzone. Strict SBMM matches players with others of similar skill, making games more competitive and difficult. On the flip side, less-skilled players won’t play against players of far superior skill.
Professional players and streamers are feeling the effects of SBMM in Black Ops Cold War. Nadeshot has taken to Twitter to make the case for SBMM to be dialed back.
“I know you’re probably tired of hearing about Skill Based Matchmaking,” said Nadeshot. “…I truly believe it is imperative that Treyarch dials back the difficulty of lobbies.”
“We’re gonna drive so many big creators away, these games have been no joke. I’m dead after playing for 9 hours.”
He elaborated further: “Call of Duty has created a hardcore True Skill system on the back end without any upside for players.”
Nadeshot said he doesn’t mind playing against players of a similar skill but suggested a rank-system so players know where their skill-tier lies. With strict SBMM there’s no way of noticing improvement, as your stats will always remain about the same.
In a reply to Nadeshot, retired pro Rallied said that all of his public lobbies have professional players in them, and he never gets matched with a name he doesn’t recognize.
Doug ‘Censor’ Martin also shared his in-game leaderboard, surprised that no professional player has over a 2.0 kill/death ratio.
Treyarch is yet to comment on SBMM in Cold War’s full launch, although Treyarch’s Director of Technology Martin Donlon has stated that SBMM can be ‘tuned.’
Image credit: Nadeshot