Apex Legends professional player Brandon ‘Ace’ Winn has slammed Respawn Entertainment over their decision to add skill-based matchmaking to the popular battle royale game.
Players have long suspected that the title uses skill-based matchmaking to create lobbies, but had no official proof until a developer at the company confirmed that it was enabled before the end of Season 2.
Unsurprisingly, this decision has annoyed a large number of players, including NRG Esports player Ace, who called out the creators of the game in a rant during his December 1 broadcast on Twitch.
When his chat mentioned the issue of SBMM, the 24-year-old was quick to share his thoughts, and immediately jumped into criticism of the developers and their choice.
“What do I think of skill-based matchmaking?” the streamer read. “It’s irrelevant. You don’t need skill-based matchmaking in a game that has a dedicated Ranked playlist.”
“Respawn are just f**king stupid. They’re actually just doing this thing where they come out with a game, and they try to just ruin it as fast as they can. They’re going for the world record of declining player bases, and honestly, they’re doing a pretty decent job at it.”
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.
While Ace is clearly frustrated with Respawn’s decision to add SBMM to normal modes, it doesn’t appear that the developers have any intention of removing the tool, with no response to the outpouring of complaints from fans of the game.
Ace knows all about competing at the top of the title, securing a share of $60,000 with victory at TwitchCon San Diego back in September, and was runner up at TwitchCon Europe in April.
Ace continues to compete at the highest level in Apex Legends, but he can now be certain that no matter what mode he jumps into, he’ll be facing tough opponents thanks to his elevated rank as one of the game’s best players.