Overwatch 2 Finally Addresses Fixes To Its Matchmaking Problems

There's really no way to sugarcoat it — "Overwatch 2" got off to a rocky start when it first launched back in October. Early reviews for the game were very mixed, with critics noting that the game had made the fictional universe feel fresh while also criticizing it for its over-monetization. However, among players, one of the biggest issues with "Overwatch 2" has been its matchmaking system, with many complaining that it's been incredibly unbalanced and favors more adept players.

Of course, bad matchmaking can be a headache for players who just want to enjoy the game from a competitive standpoint. It's even worse for newer players who wish to dip their toes into "Overwatch 2," but are quickly dominated by others with way more skill and experience. Because of this recurring issue, Blizzard has formally addressed the criticism by detailing how matchmaking works in "Overwatch 2" and how it's changed in the months since its topsy-turvy launch.

In an official blog post, Blizzard Entertainment addressed the matchmaking system in "Overwatch 2." According to Blizzard, "Overwatch 2" now uses an internal matchmaking rating (MMR) in order to determine a player's skill level and the competition they should be facing. 

"Everyone has an internal matchmaking rating (MMR) that's a numerical value to describe your skill relative to everyone else. However, MMR isn't an absolute value, meaning your MMR can change even if your personal skill stays the same," the blog explains. As described, MMR is a progressive system that adjusts accordingly in tandem with a player and their squad's performance. For instance, winning games against players of a similar MMR will push the rating up, resulting in players facing more stiff competition. Losing does the opposite and causes a player's MMR to drop progressively with each negative result.

Blizzard stated that many of the matchmaking issues in "Overwatch 2" at launch were due to a cross-pollination between seasoned "Overwatch" veterans and players that were new to the series. "We noticed that new players were losing their initial matches much more than they should have, and this trend wasn't levelling out enough by the time they'd played many more matches," the post says. In order to remedy this, Blizzard has made changes to a player's starting MMR when first launching the game.

Despite these changes, Blizzard concluded the blog post by saying that it plans to continue modifying matchmaking as time goes on and more data is collected.