The Skill Based Match Making (SBMM) in Fall Guys is turning out to be a nuisance for most players in the community. Although the game soared to new heights of popularity once it went free to play on the Epic Games Store, the number of players in the game has started to dwindle once again, thanks to the troublesome SBMM that the game has to offer.
Technically, you cannot bypass the SBMM in Fall Guys because it’s one of the core features of the match-making service that the game has to offer. The only way you can avoid it is by not playing the “Solo Show” mode. This is the only mode in which SBMM is active, so if you play the other modes that the game has to offer, you should not have issues with it. Some players have also reported that turning off cross-play eases the situation, but it’s unclear if that is an effective way to go about it.
Is SBMM in Fall Guys a Bad Idea?
Mediatonic introduced SBMM in Fall Guys to increase new player retention. This mechanic matches you with players of a similar skill level so as to balance the playing field for everyone. This is a good idea because new players who are not yet familiar with the mechanics of the game have a fair chance of winning the match, or even a round for that matter.
To put it into context, think that you’ve just joined a new multiplayer game and you’re playing the very first match on it. Some experienced player comes in and stomps you into oblivion. And this keeps happening for multiple rounds at a stretch. No one likes that feeling. If there’s SBMM in place, then you will be matched with players who are comparatively newer to the game, making the overall difficulty somewhat easier for you.
Although SBMM is usually seen in competitive playlists, for the most part, every multiplayer game in the market today features some sort of SBMM or a hidden MMR feature to group players of a similar skill level even in its casual playlists. The SBMM in these casual playlists isn’t as stringent when compared to the competitive playlist, but it exists.
Mediatonic seems to be in a fix here with respect to the SBMM in Fall Guys. There are two probable routes that the developers can take at this moment. They could either make the SBMM parameters less stringent for the time being. Or they could introduce a separate ranked playlist where they could use a much more stringent version of this SBMM. But for now, the only way you can avoid this whole SBMM in Fall Guys issue is by playing every mode other than the “Solo Show” mode.
Following the arrival of Fall Guys on the Epic Games store, Mediatonic collaborated with Bungie and some really cool Destiny 2 skins made it to the game. Don’t forget to check out our scoop on the availability of Fall Guys on mobile as well.
Fall Guys is free to play now on PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series consoles, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
