The ranked play grind in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is real, with players trying to climb to Iridescent and Top 250 every single day.
To climb the ladder, players need to increase their Skill Rating or SR. But the loss and gain of SR can feel very inconsistent at times, and altogether random at other times. For a while, players were left in the dark about how SR is determined.
Thankfully, in February 2023, a developer from Treyarch explained how ranked play’s skill rating works. It’s not as simple as one might think, with multiple different things being taken into account in each game of MW2 ranked play.
Here’s what they said and what it means for how you can increase your SR while playing MW2 ranked play.
How to increase SR in MW2 ranked play
To put it simply, SR is gained and lost as you win and lose games in MW2. But there’s more than meets the eye.
“Your displayed SR represents your Ranked Play skill and determines your Skill Division,” said Treyarch lead game designer Lawrence Metten. “In MW2, everyone begins their grind at zero SR in Bronze I. You gain SR when you win, and lose SR when you lose – with the amount of SR determined by a combo of personal and team performance.”
There’s no simple answer when it comes to the formula that the game uses to decide SR. SR won and lost is a combination of personal performance, team performance, the SR of your teammates, and the SR of your opposition.
Metten said that there’s another factor when it comes to SR, though. It’s something called Hidden Performance Range, or HPR for short. HPR is not shown, but every single player who tries MW2 ranked play also has an HPR that goes along with their SR.
“In lower divisions, we put a premium on personal performance to try and graduate better players out of the starting divisions quickly,” Metten said. “Perform well in these divisions and you’ll earn close to the maximum SR amount available to you, based on your current distance from your HPR. In higher skill divisions we focus more on team play so that all winning playstyles are equally rewarded and teamwork is encouraged. In these divisions, how much of your available min/max SR range you earn is primarily based on the performance of your team vs. your opponents.”
This basically means that, while your HPR is being honed, you will be gaining more SR. Once your SR better matches your HPR, you will begin to gain less SR. And the higher you climb through the ranks, the harder it will be to gain SR as well.
If you are gaining little SR for wins, it means that you’re likely close to your HPR, and it’s time to put in the hours and grind even harder than before to try and climb the ranked ladder.
Play as a team player and win games and the SR will come.
What is HPR in MW2 ranked play?
Hidden Performance Rating is very important. So what exactly is it? Metten explained that as well.
“HPR is how good our underlying performance systems think you are and how we predict you’ll stack up against other players,” Metten said. “Beat players with a higher HPR than you and your HPR goes up, fall short of expectations and it goes down. Perform consistently and your HPR narrows in. HPR and SR are directly linked.”
It’s definitely frustrating to not know what the HPR is. Basically, it’s what the game thinks of the kind of player you are and where you should be. It’s skill-based matchmaking in its purest form, essentially.
“You may start at zero SR in MW2 Ranked, but with each win the SR system is trying to climb you closer towards your underlying HPR,” Metten said. “The further your SR is below your HPR target, the more SR you gain after each win.”
Related: The best ranked classes in MW2 from Attack of the Fanboy
Published: Mar 7, 2023 04:12 pm