Modern Warfare Skill Based Matchmaking Research Shows How It Works (Summary)

modern warfare roadmap

For those playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare multiplayer who are active on the game’s subreddit, on social media and the like, chances are you’ve heard how annoyed people are at the Modern Warfare skill based matchmaking (SBMM). While developer Infinity Ward has made no comment on this (as in total silence), that hasn’t stopped other Call of Duty devs from commenting about it. Thankfully, even if Infinity Ward won’t shed any light on this, we have reliable Call of Duty content creators to do the Modern Warfare skill based matchmaking research for us, and here’s what they found out!

Call of Duty YouTubers Xclusive Ace and Drift0r combined forces to get to the bottom of Modern Warfare 2019 SBMM data, and their findings are pretty telling. You can watch the videos below to hear what they have to say, read up on our summary, and even read the hard data provided (warning: lots of number crunching).

Modern Warfare sill based matchmaking research summary:

  • Tested using a Netduma router to test connection because it shows ping and location of servers.
  • Ace and Drift0r tested SBMM using three accounts each (low, medium, high skill) for a total of six accounts.
  • Every match was recorded with player data taken from Call of Duty Companion App.
  • Skill level does not appear to impact your ping to host. Skill level of your account has no impact to the quality of the host. FYI: Not saying connections are perfect, but rather, SBMM has no correlation to ping and host. However, Modern Warfare never prioritizes skill over connection.
  • Xclusive Ace servers and pings were identical no matter what skill level was being tested.
  • High-stat players do NOT match together based on research (ie: high KD/SPM players only match with other high KD/SPM players is false).
  • Global KD (kill-death ratio) has weak correlation to SBMM (.43 coefficient).
  • Global WL (win-loss ratio) is even weaker (.20 coefficient).
  • Players are somwhat based on level (character level).
  • Average KD (past five games) has a fairly strong correlation at .83. — Data suggests there is strict Modern Warfare 2019 skill based matchmaking based on your recent performance.
  • Research shows there is strict SBMM in play but does not affect connection to games.
  • Global stats seem irrelevant to SBMM.
  • SBMM hones in on recent performance in-game, which is what some players already deduced.

Modern Warfare SBMM test data numbers, states and more.

Check out Xclusive Ace’s and Driftor’s videos pointing these stuff out, as well as their opinion on the Modern Warfare SBMM controversy:

Surprised at the results? Annoyed? Given how Infinity Ward has kept mum about Modern Warfare SBMM, this is probably the best explanation we’re going to get. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

More Modern Warfare Reading:

Top Games and Upcoming Releases