The topic of skill-based matchmaking has been a very, very volatile one over the years, especially in Call of Duty games. While Activision has always been quite tight-lipped about how it matchmakes its multiplayer Call of Duty titles, in a recent blog post it has confirmed what we've all known for a long time (that skill is a factor in matchmaking) and revealed why it hasn't moved away from incorporating it in the matchmaking process.
The post notes that skill-based matchmaking has been used ever since Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare in 2007 and that it is used to "ensure that the disparity between the most skilled player in the lobby and the least skilled player in the lobby isn't so vast that players feel their match is a waste of time."
Activision does recognise that this system has its faults, going as far as stating, "Our data shows that when lower skill players are consistently on the losing end, they are likely to quit matches in progress or stop playing altogether. This has an effect on the player pool. A smaller player pool means wait times for matches increase and connections may not be as strong as they should be. This can compound over time to create a spiral effect. Eventually, when only high-skilled players remain because lower skilled players have quit out of frustration, the result is an ecosystem that is worse overall for everyone."
The Call of Duty creator then rounds off by noting the feedback that high-skill players provide about wanting to escape from constantly demanding lobbies, and that it is in the process of finding ways to mitigate this concern.
This being said, will skill-based matchmaking ever be removed? Activision adds, "We have run tests over the years to determine if removing skill as a consideration from matchmaking makes sense. We will continue to launch these tests periodically. To date, the data remains consistent with what we detailed above - players tend to quit matches or stop playing if they're getting blown out, resulting in a negative overall experience for all players in the lobby and the general player population."
This all comes after a former Bungie multiplayer lead published a report late last year looking into skill-based matchmaking and explaining why it does a "disservice" to gamers.
What are your thoughts on skill-based matchmaking?