Battlefield Labs has been an interesting experiment for Electronic Arts and Dice. Although the testing playground for the upcoming unnamed Battlefield instalment, henceforth referred to as Battlefield 6, is leakier than a colander; the developers are likely receiving far more feedback than they would during a normal development cycle.
The response to leaks of the extended playtest has been broadly positive, with series veterans praising Battlefield 6's apparent return to the series' gritty roots. However, the ever-contentious topic of skill-based matchmaking (SBMM) recently reared its ugly head.
Skill-based matchmaking (SBMM) is a broad definition of matchmaking systems that attempt to place players of a similar skill level in the same games. A system like this tends to balance out a player's wins and losses over time. It's controversial among first-person shooter players who don't feel they should have to try their hardest to succeed in casual (unranked) lobbies.
This controversy emerged after a playtest participant data-mined code that refers to a skill-based matchmaking system. The response in the community was negative. The vocal element of the community tends to be against SBMM, despite it being the standard for every other genre.
The outrage...
