Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled Adds Skill-Based Matchmaking In New Update
Have you been enjoying your time with Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled so far? It certainly feels like a worthy remake of the classic Crash racer, except something hasn't felt quite right about the game's matchmaking. Races have sometimes felt lopsided. Highly skilled players have definitely been getting matched with newbies.
Fortunately, that shouldn't be a problem players encounter any longer.
Developer Beenox announced on Twitter today that skill-based matchmaking has been rolled out to Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, which should do a lot to make sure drivers are more evenly matched in the future. For those who don't live and breathe networking, skill-based matchmaking essentially works to pit players against others in the same skill range. And many prefer this, as it makes for closer, more exciting races and finishes.
Heads up CTR fans – we've been testing skill-based matchmaking in CTR Nitro-Fueled and rolled it out this week for online play. Dive in and let us know how you think it's going!
— Beenox (@BeenoxTeam) October 9, 2019
Some, however, may not be so pleased about the change: the really skilled players. And that's because skill-based matchmaking can also lead to multiplayer games becoming what the kids call "sweaty," as in, they're difficult all the time, and there are no opportunities for players to completely and utterly destroy some lesser opponents every once in a while.
If you happen to be very good at CTR Nitro-Fueled, you're probably going to notice that races are a lot harder to win going forward, since you'll be playing others who are good as you are. If you're not that great at racing games, though? Well, the change will actually benefit you by making sure you're no longer matched against god-tier racers. It's a double-edged sword.
According to Beenox, the shift over to skill-based matchmaking is live right now in Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled. And the developer would like some feedback on the change, so if you run a few races and either like or dislike how matchmaking has been altered in post-patch, be sure to tweet Beenox and tell the studio all about it.