Destiny 2 to add SBMM in Season 18: How it will work

After a lot of discussions, Destiny 2 is finally getting SBMM, starting with Season 18, and Bungie has explained how it will be implemented and why they’ve chosen to do so.

Destiny 2’s Crucible Mode has been the epicenter of all PvP conflict in Bungie’s sci-fi looter shooter and its competitive element is possibly about to become more balanced due to the addition of skill-based matchmaking.

If you’ve never heard the term before, SBMM (skill-based matchmaking) is a system that creates lobbies with players who are on an even keel where ability is concerned. It’s designed to promote fairness and balanced matches – although it’s not always welcomed.

Bungie has explained how they intend to slowly add SBMM to Destiny 2, starting with Season 18, and how it will affect the game moving forward.

SBMM arriving in Destiny 2 Season 18

On the newest edition of This Week at Bungie, the devs discussed the concept of “loose SBMM” and how a slower rollout will, hopefully, make the overall transition a lot smoother.

“We’re striving towards a goal that all players—including New Lights!—can enter the Crucible and regularly get matches where they can feel competitive and have a reasonable chance of winning/competing,” they said.

To achieve this goal, Bungie will add SBMM to Season 18’s Control playlist and nothing more.

They also gave players a heads up: “Expect loose SBMM to expand to other playlists in future Seasons as we tune what we consider a “high-quality match” by gathering real data and feedback from you.”

So anyone with concerns about SBMM suddenly taking over Destiny 2 need not worry as the rollout is going to be a lengthy process and will clearly be fine-tuned.

Bungie also went on to explain their system and how they assess the ability of a player: “Skill is a combination of stats made up of your performance (kills, deaths, captures, round wins, revives, dunks, etc.) that ranks you against all the other players in a match. Each player’s skill is compared against the skill of the other players in a match, and we make skill adjustments for all players at the end of a match where the two rankings differ.”

The devs take PvP very seriously and are clearly working towards building a balanced and competitive online component in Season 18, despite the unpleasant harassment they’ve been on the receiving end of.