Warzone SBMM website fights back after Activision tells it to "shut down"

Activision has issued a cease and desist notice to a Call of Duty Warzone skill-based matchmaking (SBMM) website.

SBMM Warzone – a site that lets players sift through information about player data and skill-based ranking, as well as see other player stats such as wins and kill ratios – has been told that it violates Activision's API terms of use, its copyright, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and GDPR guidelines. 

A notice, reportedly from Activision, gives the site until Monday, March 29 to close down.

"Activision’s lawyers reached out and asked us to shut down sbmmwarzone.com before next Monday," says a statement on the website. "We’ve tried to reach them multiple times to become Partners and keep this website alive. Now is our last shot. We need you!"

In response, the website is trying to rally its supporters to help them overturn Activision's complaint, insisting that as players have to set their profiles to public and explicitly share their gamertags to access the information, it's not a privacy breach.

"What we are asking [Activision], it's just to discuss with us how we could become partners, and what should we have to change in order to comply," the website owner told Eurogamer.

"We are open to rebrand (change our name), change some features and pay a commission for using their API, but for that, we still have to get in touch.

"Our main goal is to become partners," he added, "and we still believe we can reach an agreement with Activision. We don't want to fight them, we are friendlies. If it's not possible, we'll have to shut down, yes... sadly."

At the time of writing, Activision has not responded to press requests for comment.

ICYMI, a recent Call of Duty Warzone message of the day suggests that trouble is brewing in the southwest corner of Verdansk.

The message simply reads “Attention! The corruption is mutating. Survivors describe hostile explosions in the southwest zone. Who – or what – caused the blasts? Armor up and follow the trail, for glory (and rewards). Hurry!”

We reckon it’s almost certainly pointing towards the next Warzone event. It could be the long-awaited and heavily-rumored Warzone Nuke event that will see Verdansk destroyed and replaced with a fresh new map, but the message doesn’t seem to be leaning in that direction. All signs have been pointing to Warzone Season 3 starting around April 21, which would mean it’s a bit soon to be starting the nuclear destruction of Verdansk, too.

In the meantime, check out our Call of Duty Warzone tips article to get an edge over the competition as well as this valuable best Warzone guns guide, too.