After just 6 days, hot new FPS The Finals is changing its skill-based matchmaking for "better quality games"

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This should make for "slightly closer matches"

The Finals
(Image credit: Embark Studios)

The Finals is improving its skill-based matchmaking system for better and closer matches.

The new shooter from former Battlefield devs just launched earlier this month on December 7, but improvements are already on the way. In a Steam post earlier today, December 13, Embark Studios writes that it has "made some changes to our skill-based matchmaking to ensure better-quality games."

"This means matchmaking times are likely to be ever so slightly longer, but you should find yourselves in slightly closer matches," the Steam post from the developer reads. These changes have come into effect for The Finals now, so the SBMM changes are now active.

Skill-based matchmaking is, if you're unfamiliar, a system whereby competitive online games attempt to match players of a similar skill level together. In theory, this makes matches more competitive by evening the playing field, instead of lopsided games where players of differing skill levels are pitted against one another.

This has, somehow, become a touchy subject for gamers over the past few years. People bloody hate the SBMM system because a lot of people would simply rather steamroll their opponents instead of having a competitive match. As we wrote about last month, wanting an even playing field in your online lobbies isn't a skill issue.

Mercifully, there are relatively few people in the Steam comments complaining about the new SBMM measures. The vast majority of responses are actually geared towards stuttering and crashes on the PC version of The Finals, which seems to be plaguing a fair few players regardless of the hardware they're running. 

Hirun Cryer
Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.