Activision ordered the creators of SBMMWarzone.com to close the site on Monday.
Co-creators of SBMM Warzone, based in Belgium, said that lawyers representing Activision have sent an order to cease and desist demanding that the site be shut down, citing privacy concerns.
In this letter, which Eurogamer verified, lawyers claim that SBMM Warzone violates Activision’s API terms of use, infringes Activision’s copyright, violates the Computer Abuse and Fraud Act and exposes the creators of SBMM Warzone to fines. according to the GDPR. The letter goes on to say that the SBMM Warzone must be closed within seven days of its receipt, which was on March 22. We contacted Activision for comment.
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SBMM Warzone uses the Call of Duty API to obtain player data and then provide useful statistics to players. Crucially, he organizes Warzone lobbies into skill-based rankings, which players use to determine the overall skill of a lobby they just played in. Instead of an official Warzone rating system, players flocked to SBMM Warzone in an attempt to better understand the mysterious matchmaking system based on Call of Duty skills.
One of the site’s creators, Ben, told Eurogamer that he understands Activision’s concern. “When we get your data through your API, they no longer control it,” said Ben.
Ben explained that in order for SBMM Warzone to obtain this data, the player must have his profile set to public and know his BattleNet, PSN or Xbox username. The site then obtains deaths, deaths, number of wins and other statistics, such as a list of the player’s matches and the details of a match. “We didn’t get anything sensitive,” Ben insisted, “and only from public players.”
There is a suggestion that Activision disagrees with the fact that SBMM Warzone monetizes player data through its website. SBMM Warzone runs ads and sells a premium subscription between $ 4 and $ 6, which unlocks extra data, such as the progress of the last 100 games and the proportion of Gulag wins over time.
Ben insisted that this monetization has nothing to do with Activision’s complaint, however. “Some people mention it on Twitter, but I don’t know why they’re saying it because it’s not true, or where they get that information from.
“It became clear when talking to lawyers that the issue was about privacy. It’s also funny that people mention it because we still have to pay for our servers and stuff.”
Ben said that refunds will be made available if and when the site closes.
Ben is desperate to work with Activision to obtain partner status for the SBMM war zone. Some similar third-party sites, such as tracker.gg, are official Activision partners and remain unharmed. Ben said he is willing to adjust the SBMM Warzone and the way he does business to become a partner.
“What we are asking them to do is just to discuss with us how we can become partners and what we must change to fulfill.
“We are open to changing the brand (changing our name), changing some features and paying a commission for using its API, but for that, we still have to get in touch.”
Ben said he tried to contact Activision, but so far has received no response. “This is what saddens me most,” he said. “We want to be able to speak with them. We believe that we can bring much more to this community.”
SBMM Warzone started life in late 2020 and quickly gained prominence in the Battle Royale community, so it’s no surprise to see this community back in Ben as he desperately tries to save his site.
High-level Warzone players have expressed their support on social media, and the SBMM Warzone website itself has made a call to arms.
We are sorry to see this happening, your website is a great asset, especially while there is still no rating system for Warzone. I intend to let Activision know about this.
– Vikkstar? (@ Vikkstar123) March 26, 2021
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This sucks. You were doing a great service. Unfortunately, if you have received letters from the ATVI legal team, it is unlikely that anyone will be able to speak to you. The bottom-up answer will be “we can’t comment, talk to lawyers” and that’s it?
– Drift0r (@ Drift0r) March 26, 2021
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It is unclear whether Activision will listen – and if it doesn’t before Monday, SBMM Warzone will be closed.
“Our main goal is to become partners,” said Ben, “and we still believe that we can reach an agreement with Activision. We don’t want to fight them, we are friendly.
“If it is not possible, we will have to close, yes … unfortunately.”
SBMM has been a hot topic in the Call of Duty community for some time now, and some statistics tracking sites have been forced to change the way they work after players used them to cheat the system.
In January, Eurogamer reported on the developer of a controversial third-party Warzone app that allows you to see your lobby’s K / D ratio before the match starts.
Warzone – as well as Modern Warfare by Infinity Ward and Black Ops Cold War by Treyarch – were all criticized for the impact of SBMM, which triggered a “reversal” craze – that is, deliberately dying to negatively impact your K / D and, for that matter, in turn, end up in low-skilled lobbies.
Some have suggested that Activision targeted the SBMM Warzone because of the lobby rating system it provides and the view it offers about the game’s internal SBMM.
Ben, however, said he really believes Activision’s complaint is about privacy: “but either way, whether it’s privacy, SBMM itself (or any content on our site) or monetization, there is a way to find common ground . “