Apex Legends - Skill Based Matchmaking changes with huge impacts

Apex Legends is now well on the way to Season 16, and a ton of new content is in the works for the update, and before. Spellbound is now wrapping up, but a new collection event is coming, with new skins and a brand new game mode that fans have been asking for for years.

Skill-based matchmaking is a feature of most live service games, but in Apex Legends it has been below par for quite some time. Here's everything you need to know about the changes that should make your games much more enjoyable.

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What is Skill-Based Matchmaking?

SBMM is a method of making sure that you're matched against players of a similar skill level to you. This is usually used in both ranked and pubs, to ensure that everyone has a fun experience, particularly less skilled players.

While the method has been very controversial, it has been rolled out across most multiplayer games over the last few years, including Apex Legends. Shooter games particularly have been a target, as falling behind can be such a rough experience.

Games such as League of Legends are rumoured to have such a thing as 'smurf queue', which detects players deliberately playing below their rank or elo. This has yet to be introduced in many, however.

Apex Legends SBMM Changes

The old system of SBMM is being retired, and a new one is being brought in as we speak. Whereas the old system categorised players into 4 different skill buckets the new system is described as being much more granular, with many more buckets.

What this means is that you'll see much less skill disparity within your Apex Legends games, which can often be a godsend. Your teammates when solo queueing, as well as your opponents, will now be much closer to your skill level.

This will also not punish players who have the ill fortune of being at the low end of a large bucket of players. It will increase queue times slightly, but in the end should make your games more enjoyable, and ranked easier to climb.