Is there skill based damage in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6?

Skill-based matchmaking (SBMM) has been confirmed as a part of Call of Duty, as Activision says it has a positive impact on the experience of the majority of players. But are there other facets based on skill, like damage?

“Skill-based damage” is the latest topic up for debate after gamers questioned the existence of SBMM for years, and now that we know it does, skill-based damage is the new subject that is on the mind of CoD players.

Is it possible that your bullets do less damage when you’re playing well, and do more damage when you’re playing poorly? That is the question that CoD gamers are asking Activision, and based on how long it stayed quiet on SBMM, it may be quite a long time before there is an answer.

Here’s everything there is to know about skill-based damage in CoD.

What is skill-based damage?

“Skill based damage” (SBD for short) is the idea that Call of Duty, or any other competitive game for that matter, will lower your damage output against other players when you are performing too well, or increase your damage output if you are doing poorly in an effort to keep you playing the game.

CoD and any other live service game benefits from the idea that the more you play a game, the more likely you are to purchase microtransactions. The gaming industry, after all, is a business that requires money to operate.

This idea of SBD has been a hot topic of discussion in recent years, and has popped up yet again in BO6 thanks to content creators on YouTube, TikTok, and other apps posting about it, such as Blame Truth’s recent video that he claims shows irrefutable proof about SBD in BO6.

Is there skill-based damage in BO6?

There is no definitive answer whether or not skill-based damage is in BO6 or any other game. The only reason why this is a discussion exists is because several years ago, Activision filed a patent that basically states it could change these sorts of values in-game.

However, in December 2020, YouTuber Drift0r put out a video explaining the patent and diving into deep detail about it, discovering that the patent was intended for other games such as Skylanders and not for use in CoD. You can watch the video yourself below, as Drift0r goes over the patent at about the 2:10 mark.

We’ve all felt the problem in CoD and other games where sometimes it might seem like your bullets are doing less damage than other times, but that could easily be attributed to inconsistent internet connections or any other variety of factors. Several gameplay clips made the rounds after BO6’s launch to only exacerbate the situation, where it seemed as though players’ bullets were just not causing any damage whatsoever, or taking an entire clip of ammo to finish off one enemy.

Is there the possible that some sort of SBD system exists? Of course. But it’s not likely because the legality of something like that would easily be called into question if it did. And if it does, finding any kind of proof would be very difficult to do.

Activision did not do itself any favors after the whole SBMM fiasco over the past five or so years, so many are quick to believe that SBD is just as real. It’s up to you to decide how you feel about it, as any proof or confirmation will have to come from the company itself. And I wouldn’t hold my breath on that happening soon, if at all.