Overwatch 2 players have been frustrated with matchmaking in the game’s competitive mode so far. Some have reported issues with placements, while others think the algorithm is busted.
British streamer Charlie “Chazm” Jones experienced it first-hand after noticing the Sojourn on his team seemed off the pace and out of their depth in terms of skill in an intense Top 500 lobby.
Out of curiosity, he checked the player’s profile, only to realize they placed Bronze in Season One and went on a massive win streak in Season Two that saw them climb all the way to Diamond 5. An impressive feat, to say the least—but one that raises more questions than answers. Plus, they were still a fish out of water relative to the multiple Overwatch 2 Grandmasters making up the rest of the numbers.
Chazm wasn’t thrilled about it either, to say the least.
“Blizzard, you can’t be serious? The guy’s Bronze last season,” he said. “This season he made it to Diamond 5 playing Sojourn. I think he didn’t play Overwatch 1! He’s barely got into Diamond and he gets into a full Top 500 lobby. It’s unreal. I can’t believe it!”
Chazm believes it’s a major flaw in the system because it means players can climb at an unprecedented pace. All it takes is a hot streak, and they can go from one extreme to the other.
“I guess even if you were Bronze before, if you go on a giant win streak you get Grandmaster MMR super fast,” he explained. He also said that, even if the player wasn’t actually Bronze-level, it doesn’t change the fact they were a Diamond 5 in a Top 500 game, which is still a pretty big deficit in terms of Overwatch MMR.
In the end, the Overwatch 2 player was simply not good enough to be in that lobby at this point in time—no fault of their own—but the matchmaking algorithm, for whatever reason, seemed to think otherwise.
It’s unclear whether it is an issue the developers intend to address, or whether they even consider it an issue at all.
Similar incidents have been reported since October, so perhaps it’s the latter.
Published: Dec 14, 2022 09:02 pm