Competitive changes coming to VALORANT Episode 3, including rank reset, fairer matches, and ‘less harsh’ rank rating hits after a loss

With Episode Three of VALORANT beginning on June 22, a plethora of changes are coming to the ranked competitive mode. Competitive designer Jon “EvrMoar” Walker joined caster Rivington Bisland III on a developer livestream today to discuss the impending changes, including a rank reset and adjustments to how rankings are determined.

During the livestream, Walker said that when the game launched, the devs had a system that adjusted matchmaking rating (MMR) based on the number of games played to get players into their correct ranks as quickly as possible. Over a year later, the team says that system is no longer necessary and has been removed. The devs said they see matchmaking accuracy increased by 50 percent in the lower ranks.

Regarding rank adjustment, there will be “less harsh” penalties to rank rating after a loss, so instead of losing 20 to 30 rating points after a single tough loss, players are more likely to lose between 15 to 20. But Walker pointed out that this also will likely result in a more time-consuming process when it comes to climbing ranks.

With a new episode of VALORANT comes a reset of ranks, meaning players will have to play five placement matches to get their rank. The team has increased the maximum placement ranking from Platinum Three to Diamond One, so Immortal-plus players will have less of a climb.

Speaking of Immortal players, the Immortal rank is getting its three slots back, just because of the large number of Immortal players. But Immortal One, Two, and Three won’t be added until Act Two of Episode Three.

Episode Three officially begins on June 22.

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