Ubisoft has confirmed that when XDefiant is released on May 21, it’ll have no SBMM mechanics applied to casual playlists. That means that unranked multiplayer modes won’t use skill-based matchmaking algorithms to ‘intelligently’ link players with one another. This was revealed by a post published on the Ubisoft website earlier today, with Ubisoft dubbing the lack of SBMM ‘paramount to a fun and varied game experience’.
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SBMM has long been a sticking point for FPS fans worldwide. Many claim that SBMM ruins the entertainment value of a shooter, shoehorning players into more challenging situations than they’d like whenever they get on a hot streak in a game. It can be argued that Call of Duty is the most notorious series when it comes to SBMM ruining the fun, but other shooters have applied SBMM algorithms to their multiplayer platforms over the years.
It’s typically something that people would rather have confined to ranked playlists and not casual ones. After all, the clue is in the name: ‘casual’. Most people aren’t getting on for a game or two here and there and wanting to be matched against semi-pro players in public lobbies.
Here’s the full statement from Ubisoft:
The most important thing to know is- there is no skill-based matchmaking in our casual playlist. We believe that no SBMM is paramount to a fun and varied game experience in the long-term. Frankly, skill-based match making means every casual game is repetitive- constantly repeating matches that are just as stressful and matched as ranked. We believe casual playlist should be fun and no SBMM is the way to do that. If you want that competitive every second counts go all out playstyle – you’ll find our ranked mode to your liking.
There are some elements that’ll determine who you play against, though.
For instance, casual play will study your region, latency, any avoided players, your party size, input device, and platform – all natural things that you’d expect to be considered when matchmaking against other users. For Ranked Play, Ubisoft’s platform will also look at ‘Rank Points’.
It was noted that once all the players are assembled in a lobby, there will be a tweak applied to balance the lobbies – that’s as far as it goes. It was also confirmed that XDefiant will feature persistent lobbies, which means you’ll stay with who you’re matched with in the first place – if you choose to, that is.
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Good really. SBMM should only belong in the ranked mode where it makes sense, not casual mode. I know they try and do it to help ease new players in but World at War already had that issued solved by having a ‘Boot Camp’ game mode where you had to be below a certain level to play and once you went past that level you could no longer access it. That way you knew you were only playing with people who were new at the game.
Besides, even if you try and make the argument about SBMM in casual to help new players, other players abuse it anyway by reverse boosting. That ruins the game for people who are in their lobby trying to win and ends up becoming a slaughter when their MMR is low enough.