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Moira using a yellow ability in Overwatch.
Image via Blizzard Entertainment

Blizzard says you’re the reason you’re hard stuck in Overwatch Elo hell

Just win more 4Head.

Blizzard released its latest batch of Overwatch 2 developer notes in a blog post today, and in discussions about matchmaking, it had some harsh words for people who think they’re in Elo hell.

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In an extensive Q&A section, devs tried to reason with people who believe they are “hard stuck at a low rating that doesn’t reflect” their skill level—and it was not the comforting response that those players probably hoped for.

“The only way you can increase your rating is to win more matches than you lose,” the post said. “Since we’re putting any given player on a random team with 9 random other players, with enough matches, that player’s contributions are the only constant factor throughout, so their rating should end up reflecting their skill.”

Reading the post live on stream, former OW pro Seagull couldn’t help but laugh because, while the advice is generally true and people who believe “Elo hell” exists tend to be seen as habitual complainers, there was a confirmed bug that genuinely did prevent people from progressing out of Bronze at one point after OW2’s release.

“It’s also really, really, really funny though because at the same time, there was a legitimate Bronze Five bug where people were unironically stuck in Bronze Five due to a bug around launch,” he said. “People were winning game after game after game, and they couldn’t rank up, but then at the same time, [Blizzard] is like, ‘well, if you don’t account for the bugs, you just have to win more because … you’re the only constant factor.’”

The notes do admit to a wide variability between matches at lower ranks, though, which some people mention when attempting to describe “Elo hell.” 

“We have data showing that matches become less predictable the lower the average rating of a match,” the post said. “The result is that we get a little bit less signal to use to calibrate ratings.”

For those worried that they are forever doomed, Blizzard isn’t completely ignoring the issues that arise from a lack of predictability in lower Elos. The devs concluded their answer to the question by saying that they are working to find ways to improve the way players are rated, adding that players should “stay tuned” for future updates.


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Author
Image of Max Miceli
Max Miceli
Senior Staff Writer. Max graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a journalism and political science degree in 2015. He previously worked for The Esports Observer covering the streaming industry before joining Dot where he now helps with Overwatch 2 coverage.