Tfue discovers unexpected benefit of Fortnite removing SBMM
TfueTfue has recently praised Fortnite for the removal of SBMM from squads, but it was back to criticism on May 5.
Turner ‘Tfue’ Tenney is a man of much rage, but Epic Games’ removal of skill based matchmaking from squads in Fortnite, and its impact on his ping, has revealed a new feeling for the popular streamer: pure joy.
Perfectly exemplifying the unfettered duality of man, Tfue’s anger at skill-based matchmaking has been replaced with hype about its removal.
A longtime proponent of SBMM’s eradication, the star streamer has principally complained about its encouragement of camping and overly cautious playstyles. In one instance, getting one-shot by a hiding player caused him to conclude that “there is no reason to even play regular solo’s anymore.”
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But SBMM was reportedly removed from squads yesterday, so Tfue dropped into a match solo and was quickly surprised to find out that his ping was “cut in half.”
Understandably, the mad lad was hype and, aided by a smoother playing experience and a mixed lobby, proceeded to drop a light 30-bomb and a second-place finish against mostly teams of four.
“Skill-based matchmaking doubles your ping. No cap.” While Tfue’s conclusion is unproven, his preliminary experience suggests that the removal is a net positive for competitive players. (Although, maybe not so positive for the less-experienced players forced to play against happy professionals.)
(Segment starts at 0:19 mark for mobile users)
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It does make sense that opening up lobbies would help with internet connection, though. Since your ping is impacted by the server’s location that the game matches you up with and the congestion of your network, restricting your lobby to just those with similar skill levels might force you into playing on an unideal server.
Therefore, removing SBMM should theoretically enable the game some more flexibility in prioritizing internet speed for lobbies instead of skill equality.
That’s not the chief reason that streamers like Tfue and Ali ‘SypherPK’ Hassan have been advocating for SBMM’s removal, though. They think it will impact the meta — ping improvements are just an added perk.
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As SypherPK explained back in early April, “with SBMM, if there’s not an aggressor in the game, aka someone who’s actually playing for kills … it always end in a heal off.”
He elaborated that his gripe with SBMM is “not because of playing good players” but “because of the mentality and attitude that it promotes.”
At the moment, we can’t be sure that SBMM’s removal from squads will consistently improve connectivity or the meta. But, you can be sure that Epic Games will look at removing it from other modes if those impacts prove true.
