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Call of Dutyfans have always been a passionate community when it comes to the franchise, openly voicing their displeasure or praise for it without holding anything back. So, when a bunch of mishaps hitModern Warfare 3andWarzoneone after another, you can imagine the type of words that were voiced at Activision Blizzard.
Fans were left frustrated after ranked play modes forMW3andWarzonecompletely broke down after being hit with a bug affecting player progression. In turn, this has affected skill-based matchmaking (SBMM) as well.
COD Fans Are Furious After Ranked Play Completely Breaks Down
It didn’t take long for people to connectthe broken serversto Activision Blizzard and lashoutat Microsoft for these problems.
It’s hilarious that in only a matter of months that Microsoft has the game in shambles. To think that people thought the acquisition would be a good thing…..
— Brad Hardin (@bigpunisher365)June 13, 2025
While the server issues were a pain for players to deal with, some were happy with one aspect of the issues: SBMM completely shutting down.
Dont fix SBMM.
— Taison TV (@TaisonTV)June 28, 2025
SBMM has always been a severely heated topic inCoDcommunities, but players really didn’t pull their punches when it malfunctioned. One player on Reddit shared:
if you play a mp match you will find out that the life could be so beautiful without some bullshit named SBMM. i played Three or fout matches and they were waaaaay more enjoyable than the usual matches and i think it’s because everyone is at level one and sbmm isn’t working.
Unfortunately for these folks, everything was soon fixed, and SBMM was working as usual again. However, this did result in many players calling for SBMM to be removed from the game.
![[REDACTED] Review (PS5) – Innovation Caught the Escape Pod Faster Than We Did](https://i2.wp.com/fwmedia.fandomwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/05095712/redacted-review-768x432.jpg)
Call of Duty MW3 and Warzone Servers Crumble
So, what happened? In a completely unexpected turn, a bug appeared that prevented any player progress inMW3andWarzonefrom being tracked, which affected account levels and loadouts.
A 30 Second Video is All You Need to See to Know Activision Blizzard Haven’t Got a Clue on How to Fix Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone Right Now
The officialCoDUpdates X account updated players that its team was working to resolve the issue immediately. However, a new issue began to pop up as a result of the previous bug: SBMM completely broke down.
❗️#MW3#Warzone#ModernWarfareZombies#MW3RankedPlay
We’re working on a fix for a known issue that appeared overnight that is preventing progress from being tracked in various areas of the game including but not limited to events, challenges, Battle Pass, and SR.
Players may…
— Call of Duty Updates (@CODUpdates)July 26, 2025
SBMM is a feature that matches players with others based on their skill and rank. This meant low-skilled players would match with other low-skilled players, and tougher opponents would face each other.
Tough Luck if You Wanted to Play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’s Ranked Play or Zombies (MWZ) Mode
However, with SBMM malfunctioning, players were placed in matches alongside others of completely different skill levels. If you were lucky, you’d be placed in a lobby filled with pro players against a team of lower-skilled ones. Or, the opposite could have happened, which isn’t as fun.
Ranked Play was disabled until a fix could be rolled out within 24 hours, and theCoDteam compensated players with 2X skulls in the Horde Hunt event and extended the double XP weekend till 8 AM PT on February 27th. However, the damage was done, and players were angry.
What do you think about theCoDteam’s handling of this issue? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Vibha Hegde
Critic/Gaming Writer
Articles Published :594
Vibha is an avid gamer that has been writing about video games for several years. When they’re not complaining about the lack of a Bloodborne sequel or brushing up on the Yokoverse lore, Vibha is busy watching 3-hour video essays on horror games they’re too scared to play themselves.
