The SBMM debate has raged for years, but I've always felt like the real issue sits elsewhere.
It has its place, but recent COD games have yet to get it right. The transparency isn’t always there, and sometimes it feels like you're being punished for doing too well.
That said, it still isn’t the root of every problem like people make it out to be. The flow's off because COD keeps splitting up lobbies after every match, not because of the matchmaking system.
Let's quickly go over what these two terms mean before we get into it.
Skill-Based Matchmaking (SBMM) is a system that pairs players with others who have the same skill level. It's been a part of COD for years now, though it has become a much bigger topic of conversation with Modern Warfare (2019) and every release since then. The idea is to keep things fair, but some think it makes the game too intense for casual players.
Disbanding lobbies means everyone has to queue up again with a whole new set of opponents after each match. And in my experience, that's where most of the frustration really starts to build. In older COD titles, you could stick around in the same lobby for several rounds.
That gave matches a natural progression—you'd start to recognize names, learn playstyles, and gradually adjust your strategy. Even if the other team was better, you had time to adjust. It made rematches more fun and kept the sessions flowing, but disbanding lobbies takes that away.
You're constantly being reshuffled, so you never get a chance to build momentum or learn from your last game. The constant resetting ruins any sense of rivalry or revenge. Outplayed means no rematch, and coming back stronger in the next round doesn't have the same thrill. It turns multiplayer into a series of disconnected one-offs.
That's more painful than most people realize, and it takes away the social aspect. There was a time when COD's multiplayer was filled with rising tension throughout matches.
Sometimes, it felt friendly; sometimes, it was competitive, but it always had meaning. Lobbies disbanding after every game means those moments hardly happen anymore. It feels surface-level these days as if the game is rushing through matches and not giving anything time to breathe.
The lobby resets happening so often don't necessarily improve performance either. The days of good lobbies with stable connections are gone. You're rolled into a new match that might end up being laggy or poorly balanced.
I've had solid games wrecked by that switch, all because the system starts from scratch every time. It's tempting to point fingers at SBMM when things get sweaty or frustrating, but the issue isn't SBMM by itself.
If lobbies stayed intact, players would have more time to adapt and improve. Losing wouldn't be so harsh, with a chance to turn things around.
The game resets every time, and that endless loop begins to take its toll. So, while the SBMM debate keeps going, I'd argue the real issue is the disbanding.
It's what removes the connection, progression, and momentum that made older COD multiplayer so fun.
That system's what deserves the criticism, not the matchmaking trying to keep things competitive.