Riot dev responds to claims League ranked is ‘intentionally unfair’ to keep players grinding longer

League of Legends’ ranking system has been a controversial topic from the moment it was introduced to the game, largely because frustrated players sought a coping mechanism after devastating defeats. As the ranking system evolved over the years, aiming to reduce queue times, skill discrepancy between opposing teams, and autofill frequency, the most competitive League players continued to criticize it. In a recent Reddit thread, where players once again attacked the integrity of the matchmaking system, a Riot Games developer responded to their complaints.

After Reddit user yourLoLideaisshit shared their story of having to dodge games with their teammates having a 40 to 30 percent win rate, BGID_to_the_moon claimed Riot intentionally fixes games to increase the time you spend playing.

“No, games are intentionally unfair. They don’t put you in a game where you theoretically have a 50% chance to win based on ranks, otherwise you reach true MMR too quickly and stop playing,” they said. “They give you 5 games where you have a 55% chance of winning, then 5 games where you have a 45% chance of winning and you climb by consistently outperforming in games you’re supposed to lose.”

Riot Auberaun directly responded to this by saying Riot doesn’t meddle with the matchmaking system in such a cruel way. “No, we don’t do that. Aim for as close to 50% every time.”

Despite the swift response from Riot, BGID_to_the_moon wasn’t happy with the answer. “Been around long enough to know that’s not the case,” they said, before being showered with downvotes.

Auberaun added to the conversation by saying “winrate is not a criteria. if an iron player gets better or a silver player gets worse and they both end up in bronze, they’ll be matchmade with other bronze players.”