Nadeshot demands Infinity Ward add Warzone ranked after SBMM struggles

Matthew ‘Nadeshot’ Haag has taken a swipe at Infinity Ward’s decision to have skill-based matchmaking, but not a ranked playlist, in the new-look Warzone battle royale and Modern Warfare’s main multiplayer modes.

Skill-based matchmaking, or SBMM, has long been a hot topic in FPS titles. Devs often turn to the notorious feature to level the casual playing field, but top-level pros and streamers are a little less fond of how it changes games.

While competing in KEEMSTAR’s new Warzone Wednesday tourney, Nadeshot felt as though he fell victim to the skill-based feature again.

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In the beginning, he and squadmates CouRage and Cloakzy were racking up 40+ kill games. The high-hauls put them in pole position for the $20,000 first-place pot. Soon, however, they began to struggle. They eventually finished third.

• Read more: Doc roasts “clueless” Nadeshot in hilarious Warzone Doc Cast

There had been other factors, but in Nadeshot’s eyes, one thing changed the most: difficulty. SBMM seemed to take hold as his star-studded team rampaged in Verdansk, and the 100 Thieves star lashed out at the issue again.

Activision

Nadeshot believes Warzone is suffering because of hidden skill-based matchmaking in its playlists.

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Nadeshot calls for a ranked queue in Warzone

In particular, he admitted he would “never understand” why Infinity Ward ⁠— and all CoD devs for the past few years ⁠— would “go to all the trouble to implement skill-based matchmaking,” but “won’t add a ranked system.”

That was the best solution for the problem, Nadeshot said. With casual lobbies keeping that “pub” feel, and ranked queues matching the best with the best, it resolved the issue. The only question was why it hadn’t happened yet.

“If you’re going to match me up against better players, why can’t I have a rank to be proud of and work towards?” the 100 Thieves founder added.

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“I wouldn’t believe them”: Nadeshot sick of SBMM

The existence of SBMM has often been a question mark in modern titles. Respawn admitted Apex Legends has skill-based queues in its public lobbies, while Modern Warfare’s devs have skirted around the topic in the past.

Nadeshot is near-certain both Warzone, and the main Call of Duty title, do have some kind of SBMM though. He’s so certain, he added he “wouldn’t believe” any IW devs who suggested it wasn’t present in the 2019 release.

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“There are 30 million registered players playing Warzone. Somehow I consistently face off against players I know that are at the top of the leaderboards. It’s beyond coincidence,” the 100 Thieves star said.

• Read more: Shroud says he might be “done” with Warzone really soon

“I don’t think I’m going to match against all of those 30 million players. But even if there were a fraction of those players online in the US alone, the odds of me matching against multiple friends multiple times is absolutely absurd.

“This includes players on my friends list that live all over the country so I know it’s not connection-based. I’ve fought Merk, Teepee, Maven, Crowder, JoshOG, Diego, Huskers, Crimsix, Ninja, and Noah all in the last few days MULTIPLE times.”

While Nadeshot is a big name in the community, it’s unlikely IW will respond to his latest SBMM swipe. Outside of a studio visit in February, the devs have never commented on matchmaking systems before. Don’t expect this to change.

Devs may not comment, but YouTubers Drift0r and TheXclusiveAce did find results in new tests. They discovered there are skill-based metrics that determine lobbies, so be ready for hard battles if you stomp a few games in a row.