Modern Warfare 4 Beta Will Test Low-SBMM Playlists

Activision Puts Low-SBMM Playlists in the MW4 Beta

Call of Duty players have been arguing about skill-based matchmaking for years, and Activision is finally giving them something concrete to react to. According to PC Gamer, the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 beta will include dedicated low-SBMM playlists alongside standard ones, letting the studio measure how players respond to matches with looser skill restrictions.

The move signals that Activision is still actively rethinking how it handles matchmaking. In language quoted by PC Gamer, the company said it continues to “learn a lot about multiplayer matchmaking,” which is a fairly candid admission from a publisher whose approach to SBMM has drawn sustained criticism from a significant chunk of its own player base.

Why This Matters to the CoD Community

The SBMM debate in Call of Duty circles is not new, and it is not simple. The core tension has always been this: tighter skill-based matchmaking protects newer and average players from getting stomped, but it also means that better players rarely get a breather, and casual sessions can start to feel like ranked competition even when nothing is on the line.

For years, content creators and competitive players alike have complained that Modern Warfare and Warzone’s aggressive matchmaking drains the fun out of pub stomping and makes it harder to play relaxed games with friends of mixed skill levels. The counterargument, which Activision has historically leaned on, is that SBMM keeps the experience fair for the majority of players who would otherwise be on the receiving end of those pub stomps.

By building low-SBMM playlists directly into the beta, Activision is essentially running a live experiment. Players who opt into those playlists will experience a looser matchmaking pool, and the studio will be watching the data closely to see whether lobby quality, player retention, and overall sentiment shift in meaningful ways.

Beta as a Testing Ground

Using a beta to test matchmaking philosophies rather than just stress-test servers is a smart play. Betas have historically been treated as glorified demos, but Modern Warfare 4’s approach suggests Activision wants genuine feedback loops built into the pre-launch period. Running parallel playlists with different SBMM weighting gives the team real comparative data rather than relying on post-launch surveys or social media sentiment.

As reported by PC Gamer, Activision’s framing around “learning a lot” suggests this is not a one-and-done policy decision. The studio appears to be treating matchmaking as something it still needs to tune rather than something already solved.

What Players Can Expect Going In

For anyone planning to hop into the Modern Warfare 4 beta, the presence of low-SBMM playlists means there will likely be a choice to make from the lobby screen. Players who want more varied competition, whether that means easier lobbies or just less predictable ones, will have that option. Those who prefer structured matchmaking can stick with standard playlists.

Whether the low-SBMM experience actually feels better, or just different, is exactly what Activision says it wants to find out. The data collected during the beta period will presumably inform how Modern Warfare 4 handles matchmaking at launch and beyond. Given how loudly this issue has echoed through the community for the better part of a decade, the studio’s willingness to test alternatives in a public beta is at least a sign that the feedback has not been landing on deaf ears.