SBMM Warzone is a website that uses the Call of Duty API to acquire player data and pump out stats that players might be interested in. it also organizes Warzone matchmaking lobbies into skill-based ranks, which players then use to find out the overall skill level of a particular lobby. However, Activision has now ordered the creators of SBMMWarzone.com to shut the website down by tomorrow.
According to Eurogamer, Activision’s lawyers claim that the website not only violates the company’s API terms of use, but also infringes Activision's copyright, violates the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and exposes SBMM Warzone's creators to fines under GDPR. The letter then says that SBMM Warzone must be shut down within seven days of receipt, which was March 22.
One of the website’s co-creators, Ben, spoke with Eurogamer and said that he understood Activision’s concerns, as once SBMM Warzone gets the company’s data via its API, Activision doesn’t control it any longer.
Ben went on to further explain that players must have their profile set to public and know their BattleNet, PSN or Xbox username for SBMM Warzone to be able to obtain the required data. Only then can the website obtain data, that is limited to kills, deaths, number of wins, a list of the player's matches and the detail of a match. Ben stressed upon the fact that no sensitive information is collected, and whatever is collected is only from public player profiles.
One theory suggests that Activision has made this move as it takes issue with SBMM Warzone monetizing the player data via its website. The website does run advertisements, and also sells a premium membership which offers more data, like the last 100 games' worth of progress, and Gulag win ratio over time. This costs between $4 and $6.
However, Ben insisted that this move by Activision has nothing to do with monetization. “Some people mention that on Twitter, but I don't know why they're saying that because it's not true, nor where they get that info,” he said. "It's been clear talking to the lawyers that the issue was about privacy. It's funny also that people mention that because we still have to pay for our servers and stuff."
The website is now aiming to contact Activision and work with the company on a partnership basis. This is possible for SBMM Warzone, as third-party websites like tracker.gg have achieved partner status with the company.
“What we are asking them, it's just to discuss with us how we could become partners, and what should we have to change in order to comply,”said Ben. "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. That's what saddens me the most. We want to be able to talk to them. We believe there is so much more we can bring to this community."
Ben also confirmed to Eurogamer that if the SBMM Warzone website were to shut down, refunds will be made available.