[4] The term skill-based matchmaking first appeared in a 2008 interview with game designer John Carmack in which he emphasized its importance in Quake Live (2010).
Upon setting up an account with id Software, the game will ask the player for their skill level and judge accordingly depending on their performance from that point forward.
During the development of Dota 2 (2013), Valve Software believed that the barrier to entry could be solved with, among other things, skill-based matchmaking through its Steamworks service;[6] when Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010) developer Treyarch was asked why the game wouldn't include skill-based matchmaking unlike Halo 3 (2007), multiplayer design director David Vonderhaar said that speed was "more important than anything else".
[7] Team-based, competitive games such as League of Legends (2009), Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (2012), Dota 2 (2013), and Overwatch (2016) benefit from skill-based matchmaking.
[8] Treyarch, who developed Call of Duty: Black Ops II, consciously queued players exclusively using ping and latency, in a subversion of industry standards at the time.
[16] Streamer TimTheTatman refused to stream Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022) upon discovering that it would implement skill-based matchmaking.