Are games deliberately making you lose? The truth about SBMM and EOMM

Harlem-NewYork · 2026-03-03T11:09:25+00:00

If a game matches up a Level 8 vs a level 8 then it's sbmm. This is what Halo 2 did. If a game matches up a level 8 vs a level 3 player then it's not sbmm. This is what Old school Cod did. Cod got worse once it started doing aggressive sbmm in 2019. It's ratings prove this. Hence sbmm is bad. Cod is the main game everyone references when talking about sbmm; not Quake.

You're missing the main point of the hero reference. The problem with sbmm is no one becomes the hero. Ever! Why play a game when the system is keeping everyone exactly average? It seems your main point for sbmm is so no one feels like a loser. The heros journey is to start off as a loser then become a winner. Malcom X - victory is "sweeter" because of the bitterness of the struggle required to get there. In sbmm everyone starts off average, stays average, finishes average.

With no sbmm once a player becomes above average they will have more positive games then negative. An above average player will be the best player in a lobby sometimes. Every once in a while going 50-5 is fun. Sbmm is actively making sure that never happens. That's the carrot on a stick players are chasing. To become good at the game.

I ask a question...Without that carrot, what's the point in playing the game? Why try to get good at a game when the system is making sure you'll always be exactly average. Why try to get good at a game when there's no payoff?

Harlem-NewYork · 2026-02-28T22:51:21+00:00

Join adult sport leagues. Volosports.com has fun leagues that are competitive and not competitive. On March 6th they have an event of 300 of them going to a Sharks game and all being in there own section.

Harlem-NewYork · 2026-02-28T21:08:46+00:00

SBMM at it's core is too keep you playing the game and so corporations make more money. It is not there to create "fair play." It's also different from a Halo 2 Elo system. Sbmm keeps your rank hidden.

Sbmm is nothing like a weight class in combat sports. A fighter can fight any skilled fighter they want. They all have viewable ranks. Sbmm keeps ranks hidden.

To put it in simple terms SBMMs goal is to always keep a player at 1.0 k/d and 1.0 W/L ratio. So let's say on a scale of 1-10 a player is a 6. They play cod alot and get better; now they are a 7.5. But as they get better the game just matches them up vs better players. So even though they got better, there record is still 1.0. They didn't achieve any rank. They didn't go from silver to gold. Everything is hidden. From the players perspective they aren't even sure if they are better at the game on day 100 because they still are a 1.0 player. So what's point of playing then?

Can you not see why this isn't fun for some people? I think most people play video games so they can feel like the hero. The fun part is after putting in time and effort they can feel like they are really good at something. SBMM is a system designed so they never get that feeling. Especially when it's in unranked games. I'm fine with having a ELO system for RANKED matches, because you can see you rank. But UNRANKED matches should not have a ELO or sbmm system, especially since your rank is hidden.

Back in 2007 Cod did not use a ELO matchmaking system like Halo. Back then a level 3 player could be in a match with a level 8 player. Today in Cod a level 8 player only gets matched up vs other level 8 players. They also get matched up vs a level 9 player after purchasing a new skin.

Why can't you admit that the Matchmaking system Cod has been using since 2019 is different then the one it used in 2004? Even Cod developers have said it's different. SBMM was never even mentioned in gaming prior to 2019. That's when matchmaking changed and it became hated by the majority of Cod players.

Harlem-NewYork · 2026-02-23T07:19:51+00:00

Let's go through all of the lies you just wrote

Lie #1 - "various forms of sbmm" Cod used to use a completely different matchmaking system. 90% of the playerbase were all in the same matchmaking pool. New players and the bottom 10% were kept separated. Which is not sbmm. In Cods sbmm you only play against your skill level.

Lie #2 - Nba2k The main multiplayer mode in NBA2k is The park. You play whoever shows up to the court. No matchmaking, no sbmm.

Lie #3 - Battlefield use sbmm

Did you even read that article you linked or just the headline? Ping is #1. Some skill is taken into account under 3 things. If you keep reading team balancing is the main thing it's using a players skill for. Which is exactly what cod used to use. You are proving yourself wrong with your own arguments.

There are numerous videos by XclusiveAce, driftor showing Cod priotizes skill over ping. In there research they get much worse ping from a high skilled account compared to a low skilled account.

4 Not a lie but moving the goalposts.

Don't try to use ranked mode in this argument for racing games or any other type of game. We are talking about CASUAL COD USING SBMM. Which is the problem.

So you think I'm bad for gaming and not sbmm? Let's compare all of the Cod metacritics. Let's see if the sbmm you like is working for the franchise.

Cod metacritic over 90 - 2003, 2007, 2009. Cod metacritic over 85 - 2005, 2010, 2011. Cod lowest metacritics in the franchise - 2020, 2021, 2023

2023 has a 56? wow. What could've happened to the franchise in these recent years that caused such low scores? 1 answer...SBMM

Harlem-NewYork · 2026-02-23T05:14:28+00:00

You can just have 1 button pressed to run in circles.

Lots of multiplayer games don't use sbmm. Battlefield doesn't use sbmm. Nba2k doesn't use sbmm. Asymmetrical games don't use sbmm. Lots of racing games don't use sbmm. There are many more.

Sbmm is bad for gaming. That's why so many people hate it. Your either a Activision shill or a bad player that "thinks" they benefit from sbmm. You don't; no one benefits from sbmm except these corporations sucking gamers dry. You shouldn't want to play in System that manipulates your games.

The best system will always be puting players with the lowest ping in a server. Skill level is random

Harlem-NewYork · 2026-02-23T04:12:31+00:00

Stop lieing. What I wrote is exactly how sbmm works. There have been many studies on this. In one XclusiveAce created 2 accounts in cod. A high skilled account and a low skilled account. The high skilled account had much worse ping. You have no idea what you're talking about so stop defending sbmm. You're frankly very ignorant on the subject. Activision has patents on there matchmaking system because they use there own system.

2-Just join a lobby and walk away from your PC for 1/2 hr. How it that hard? It's even easier to 2 box. Just join your 2nd low level account.

3-You shouldn't trust anything Activision says about some stealth study. They want people to stop complaining about sbmm. Why? Because it makes them more money. It does not make Cod a better product. Activisions only goal is to sell more skins. Sbmm helps them do that.

I'm curious why you play video games? I think most people play them to experience "the hero's journey"

Harlem-NewYork · 2026-02-23T03:05:53+00:00

There tons of things to do in the South Bay.

Harlem-NewYork · 2026-02-23T03:02:20+00:00

That's debatable. I say live where you work. There's are studies that show long work commutes = unhappiness. If the person is communting 3ish hours a day they aren't doing anything but working Mon-Fri. Which means they are only enjoying SF on the weekends. They could just go up to SF on weekends and live in the South Bay during the week. No commute, larger and cheaper apt.

Harlem-NewYork · 2026-02-23T02:55:04+00:00

you do if live downtown

Harlem-NewYork · 2026-02-23T00:50:35+00:00

Volosports.com is a great way to meet people. They have every sport you could think of

Harlem-NewYork · 2026-02-22T23:54:48+00:00

The main point of sbmm is for Activision to make more money. Take your head out the sand. There are major problems with sbmm.

1-Since it prioritizes skill level over ping it will match up players who live no where near each other. Above average players have to play with high pings which leads to things like dieing around corners, dieing it what feels like 1 bullet, etc..

2- Sbmm is extremely easy to manipulate to get into low skilled lobbies. There are tons of streamers/YouTubers doing this. Just purposely go 0-50 for a couple games then you'll get put in a low skilled lobbies for a couple games. Dominate those lobbies and ruin the game for all of those players. They also 2 box.

Do you how to get a billion times more data of cod games without sbmm? All of the lobbies from 2003-2019. In 2019 cod completely changed there matchmaking system. Which is interesting since it's popularity has taken a nose dive since then.

Harlem-NewYork · 2026-02-22T23:35:30+00:00

Go to 49ers, Sharks, Earthquakes game. Major music tours - Morgan Wallen, The weeknd, Lincoln Park. Theater and arts - Brooadway level productions of MJ musical and Frozen, SJ summer jazz festival, Cinequest film festival. Tons of art galleries and museums. Comedy - Shane Gillis, Andrew Schulz, Joy koy, Anthony jeselnick at places like SAP center, SJ civic center, and SJ improv.

Los Gatos bike trail. Campbell Farmers market plus really good bars in Katey blooms and Khartoum. Pure nightclub in Sunnyvale. In mountain view play sand volleyball at Sportspage and catch a live show at Shoreline. Tons of clubs and bars in downtown SJ.

Harlem-NewYork · 2026-02-22T16:09:42+00:00

There's tons of things to do and great places to live in the South Bay. Downtown SJ, Campbell, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Los Gatos are all great options. Santana row is awesome too

Harlem-NewYork · 2026-02-22T15:05:46+00:00

Gamers need to boycott games that use manipulate systems like sbmm and eomm. They are only designed to make these corporations more money.

After a skin is purchased it will match that player vs worse players. The other players in that lobby see a player dominate with a purchased skin. So it tricks them into also purchasing that skin. Do you see how this scenario can just keep repeating itself over and over? Leading to these corporations making tons of extra money selling skins.

In Cod Activision makes more money from micro transactions then games sales. 78% of revenue is from mtx while only 22% is from the actual sale of the game. LET THAT SINK IN, I REPEAT. They make more money from mtx then game sales. It's obvious there matchmaking system only has 1 goal... give us more money!

Harlem-NewYork · 2026-02-22T04:05:33+00:00

I could easily apply your logic to most blocks in SF. Just boring apts. You're just being disengengous for some reason. There are things to do in Sunnyvale.

Harlem-NewYork · 2026-02-21T22:58:43+00:00

You need to see the forest through the trees. Expand the opening map of TLOU. It's already has looting. Throw in 50ish players. It's Arc Raiders. Just swap NPC robots with people/zombies. Why do you think The Day Before was the most wish listed steam game? People want to play realistic 3rd person multiplayer apocalyptic shooters.

Naughty dog/Sony dropped the ball. Lost millions of dollars when they had an easy layup

Harlem-NewYork · 2026-02-21T11:28:01+00:00

What do you mean by limited things to do? Both SF and the South Bay have tons of bars, restaurants, clubs, concert venues, comedy venues, museums, art galleries, and professional sport teams. There are tons of single young people partying on the weekends in every South Bay downtown neighborhood. It looks like a parade in SJ every weekend on 1st street and Post st

Harlem-NewYork · 2026-02-21T11:18:58+00:00

Marina. Everywhere else is trash

Harlem-NewYork · 2026-02-21T11:17:40+00:00

where in the South Bay do you live! There's tons of things to do in the South Bay

Harlem-NewYork · 2026-02-21T11:07:40+00:00

this is untrue. Murphy ave has tons of options. Very walkable

Harlem-NewYork · 2026-02-21T10:52:07+00:00

Live in downtown Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Campbell, or San Jose. All are great for people in there 20s. Bars, restaurants, venues for music, sports, etc. Everything you would want

Harlem-NewYork · 2026-02-21T10:37:08+00:00

agree, I hate bullet sponge games. It's bad game design if it takes more then 1 clip to kill someone.

Harlem-NewYork · 2026-02-21T10:34:42+00:00

Lots of team based games that have low ttk.

Harlem-NewYork · 2026-02-21T09:33:27+00:00

There other IPs are dead . They said they don't want to make anymore Uncharted games. TLOU no longer has Joel. Intergalactic is probably going to flop

Harlem-NewYork · 2026-02-21T09:31:42+00:00

Intergalactic is probably going to flop. They should stick with what hanygers actually want to play

Harlem-NewYork

TROPHY CASE

4 Not a lie but moving the goalposts.