Well-known leaker Tom Henderson explains why a new EA patent could become the solution to the SBMM problem for BF6.
Currently, the debate about SBMM (short for “Skill Based Matchmaking”) continues to keep the CoD community on tenterhooks – the system is blamed for poor player experiences and is increasingly being tricked by cheaters.
Accordingly, a statement by industry insider Tom Henderson caused nervousness in the Battlefield community, according to which SBMM will also be used in Battlefield 6. In a video, Henderson now explains why the worries are largely unjustified.
By the way, we’ll summarize what SBMM is exactly and why it’s so hotly debated, especially in the CoD community:
SBMM trouble in CoD: What’s going on?
“Yes, Battlefield 6 will have SBMM, but the system won’t necessarily be as bad as many people are currently making it out to be,” Henderson says in his video on Youtube. Henderson cites three main points as justification:
- SBMM will not be handled like in CoD MW or Warzone.
- A new SBMM patent from EA always prioritizes the connection.
- BF6 also features custom servers entirely without SBMM.
How reliable are these predictions? Currently, the leaker’s statements cannot be verified or confirmed. Information from such unofficial sources should therefore always be treated with caution. Whether EA will actually implement his patent for BF6 is not yet known.
Who is the Leaker? Tom Henderson is better known under the pseudonym LongSensationYT and has proven insider sources in the developer scene. He gained notoriety among CoD fans in particular for correctly predicting Modern Warfare's name and setting, and for predicting a Free2Play Battle Royale spinoff long before Warzone's release.
How BF6 should do better
According to Henderson, Battlefield 6 will also feature player-run custom servers, where accordingly no SBMM is possible at all. The system will only come into play for players who join via official lobbies or via matchmaking, Henderson said.
In addition, a new SBMM patent from EA could already be used in BF6, according to Henderson. The system primarily takes into account the connection, so that a good ping always has priority over the skill of the player – and is superior to the SBMM in Warzone alone.
Is EA’s patent the solution?
The patent states that in this form of SBMM, it is not the skill of the individual player that is balanced, but the entire lobby. This works in the following steps:
- Players with matching connection quality enter the lobby.
- A complex algorithm simulates a match in seconds.
- Factors of the simulation are behavior, K/D, experience, etc. of all players.
- If the test match is one-sided or unfair, the lobby is shuffled.
- Only when a fair match has been simulated, the real round starts.
The advantages of this system are obvious: On the one hand, the ping remains the primary factor and the connection quality does not suffer. On the other hand, it allows players of different skill and rank levels to meet. The described SBMM system therefore only tries to ensure a match that is as balanced as possible overall, but is not restrictive when it comes to the individual skill.
