Sledgehammer Addresses Matchmaking and "Reverse Boosting" Bans

"Player connection to the host always takes priority over skill in the matchmaking process."

Sledgehammer Games Studio Head and Co-Founder Michael Condrey has spoken out regarding matchmaking issues and bans related to "reverse boosting"

"First, and I can't stress this enough, player connection to the host always takes priority over skill in the matchmaking process – always, no exceptions," Condrey said in a post to the game's official website. "Fast connection to a match hosted on our global dedicated servers is the most important component of our matchmaking system."

Condrey also addressed the issue of "reverse boosting," where players intentionally kill themselves in game to lower their stats so they can be matched with and dominate less skilled players.

"No one wants to lose an objective based match by effectively being outnumbered while their teammate shoots grenades into their own forehead 100 times in the corner," Condrey said. "It's not dissimilar from the bans that cheaters and boosters receive, and we have increased our focus on reverse boost banning to combat the growing issue. No one is trying to restrict the fun factor of playing Advanced Warfare with this policy, nor are we actively banning against particular styles of play, like trick shots. However, we have a low tolerance approach to people who ruin the experience for others through cheating, boosting, reverse boosting or being caught with toxic emblems in game."

The rest of Condrey's post can be red here.