Where They are Going Wrong With the Call of Duty Series

Like any series, Call of Duty has experienced its fair share of ups and downs over the years. In spite of this, it continues to be a juggernaut in the world of gaming. Dominating sales charts year after year, albeit with some slumps with less popular entries, has seen Call of Duty crowned as the king of first-person shooters. Last year’s entry, a reimagining of the classic Modern Warfare sub-series, was Call of Duty’s greatest triumph in years.

Earlier this year, Activision announced that Modern Warfare 2019 has outperformed every single previous Call Of Duty. The company revealed that Modern Warfare has sold more copies and has more players online than any previous entry in the Call of Duty franchise. Revenue from in-game purchases also doubled as a result compared to its predecessor. One thing is clear: the latest iteration of Call of Duty is a thumping success, at least from a business perspective.

That being said, concerns are brewing amongst the most dedicated fans that the series is going in the wrong direction, particularly in relation to matchmaking. Call of Duty employs a system known as Skill-based Matchmaking (SBMM) that is designed to match players up with other players of the same skill level. After tests from various YouTubers and anecdotal evidence, it was widely agreed that Modern Warfare indeed implemented SBMM and an aggressive form of it too.

What resulted was ‘sweaty’ lobbies game after game whereby players were always required to try their hardest to have a somewhat good game. Many felt this ruined the matchmaking experience as it took the fun out of the series, which has always been more of an arcade shooter. Previous Call of Duty games had Ranked Matches for those who wanted to actively participate in such matchmaking but this was not an option in Modern Warfare. Instead, an aggressive form of SBMM was implemented into public matchmaking.

As well as taking the fun out of the game, SBMM also caused issues when players would team up with a few friends. For instance, from a completely subjective anecdote, my usual group of friends often had a very difficult time joining lobbies with a few of us who had high KD ratios (kill/death ratio) whereby they were also forced into tougher lobbies as a result. In my personal experience, this resulted in my friends either not wanting to play for very long or simply switching to another game.

As well as this, Modern Warfare, by design, discouraged movement around the map. The developers themselves spoke of “safe spaces” aka camping spots, specifically designed into maps to give newer players a place where they can sit still and get some kills. Further, the loudest sounding footsteps heard in the series yet, as well as the introduction of interactable doors, all contributed to a lack of movement. For example, many modes such as free-for-all would end by timer rather than anyone actually getting the kills to win due to everybody sitting in their own “safe space” around the map.

The silver lining of Call of Duty being a yearly franchise is that fans need only wait for the next game to come along and hopefully right the wrongs of the previous game. At first glance, it appears Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War does away with a lot of things Modern Warfare got wrong. Maps are less complicated, movement is encouraged, footsteps are quieter, doors are gone, and it feels like a return to form for the series. Yet, despite these improvements, SBMM (reportedly) still remains an issue. So much so, in fact, that during the Alpha test for Cold War the hashtag #RemoveSBMM trended worldwide.

This wasn’t just the anger of hardcore fans either. Former Call of Duty world champion Seth 'Scump' Abner, one of the most well-known Pro Call of Duty players in the history of the series, had this to say on Twitter:

“SBMM does not belong in Call of Duty. There should be a ranked playlist for people to sweat in. I’m not trying to play Scuf wielding game fuel chugging demons with szn in their psn on Miami TDM.”

Amongst the series’ most dedicated fans, there is a clear widespread consensus that SBMM is harming the series. As the sales numbers show, the backlash is yet to be felt where it hurts a company like Activision most, but if the backlash continues to grow and trend, it’s only a matter of time. For me, Call of Duty is a series that’s always been a simple buy every year due to the fact it is fun. Grouping up with my friends and chilling out in some online games has always been a source of fun and entertainment. SBMM, in an aggressive form, puts that selling point at risk.