Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 represents the next generation of this twenty-year-old shooter series. It’s one of the most highly-anticipated titles to hit the franchise in years, and Activision (and associated studios) spared no expense when marketing and promoting the game. However, there’s one question that still floats around the minds of COD multiplayer fans worldwide: Does Black Ops 6 have SBMM?
What is SBMM in COD?
SBMM means ‘Skill-Based Matchmaking’, and it’s an algorithm-driven mechanic that determines who you’re matched with online. It’s driven by many criteria, such as your ping, input, kill-death ratio, and match history, but it’s one of the most controversial features in Call of Duty’s storied history.
Many multiplayer gamers hate SBMM because it ‘deliberately’ forces you to play against more challenging opponents more regularly, rather than landing you in a truly randomised pool of players for each new game. That means that the better you are, the tougher your experience will be.
In recent years, Activision has tweaked SBMM to be even more intelligent. It can now tell when you’re ‘about to’ quit Call of Duty, and by way of a response, it might offer you a slightly more relaxed lobby so that you do better and keep playing for longer.
Is SBMM in Black Ops 6?
Unfortunately for some, Black Ops 6 does have SBMM. It has been claimed that every Call of Duty game for the last ten years or more has featured SBMM elements, and Black Ops 6 will be no different. Further, it’s assumed that Black Ops 6 will feature more intelligent SBMM than ever before, as it’s a mechanic that Activision’s teams are forever trying to improve.
SBMM isn’t always a bad thing, of course. In 2024, Activision lifted the lid on the driving factors of Skill-Based Matchmaking. It was explained that the more important factors when matching players with one another are elements like connection, ‘time-to-match’, platform, and whether or not the users have access to voice chat.
The most critical factor is ping – not K/D or recent match performance.
That’s why it’s not necessarily a bad thing that Black Ops 6 does have SBMM – it might be a mess of unstable matches and connection errors, otherwise.
For more Insider Gaming guides, check out everything we know about the Black Ops 6 system requirements
