Overwatchhas established itself by combining a diverse cast of heroes with team-based gameplay. Even though an individual’s skill matters, Blizzard’s shooter requires that allies work in tandem to complete objectives. However, a former professional player is calling out matchmaking inOverwatchfor poorly grouping teammates.
Typically, fans of the game expect to group with random allies if choosing a mode like Quick Play. When it comes to Competitive Mode, there is a ranking system that places players of similar skill against each other. With multiple tiers for ranked play, player cangrind from low ranks like Bronzeto higher ones. Caleb “McGravy” McGarvey has noticed that this placement expectation is not always the case when it comes to the top tiers.
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The player originally made his name in the game’s official league, where officials vet teams and structure matches. Now that McGarvey is playing on his own for a stream, he is subject to the unreliable elements of matchmaking. Upon queuing up for a Top 500 match, the player notices that his partnerOverwatchTank herois not in the right rank at all. This tier is for the best of the best, but the ally in question had not even completed the initial placement matches to get ranked.
After wondering if the teammate is potentially great at the game, McGarvey checks the player’s career profile. Much to his chagrin, it turned out that this competitor was only a Platinum rank DPS and Support. This tier is four ranks below Top 500, or in other words, a skill rating of 2500-2999 in comparison to 4000 or up. McGarvey was justifiably upset, since this grouping is clearly not aplacement exploit in competitiveOverwatch. Fortunately for the pro player, the ally Tank quit out of the match before it could start and took the loss.
When it comes to Competitive Mode, there can be a lot of frustration and toxicity. SinceOverwatchdepends on the entire team’s input for success, one bad player can make or break the match. While McGarvey’s reaction is not exactly pleasant, he clarifies that it is not the fault of the Platinum rank player. Matchmaking in the game should be conscious of each player’s rank history and not make imbalanced matchups. This is especially true since low rank competitors cannot group up with friends who are of high rank.
Of course, matchmaking inOverwatchhas always been a major heartburn for players. Regardless of the mode, matches typically result in crushing the enemy team or watching allies get completely stomped. There are a lot of possibilities for why the Platinum player appeared in a Top 500 match, but there is no indication that this extreme is the norm. At this point, fans can hope that the developers work out matchmaking issues forBlizzard’s launch ofOverwatch 2.
Overwatchis available now on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
