Competitive play is returning in Overwatch 2 and Blizzard Entertainment is using the opportunity to adjust both the mode and the way players feel about their own skill progression.
This new iteration of ranked play is being called Competitive 2.0. With it, the Overwatch 2 team is hoping to streamline the ranking process, give players more tools to help them improve over the course of seasons, and reduce toxicity across all levels of play. While the core ranked play experience hasn’t changed, there are enough tweaks and updates that participating will feel fresh to even the most seasoned Competitive player.
As explained in the recent Defense Matrix initiative blog post, Blizzard is changing the way players unlock Competitive in Overwatch 2. Players new to the game, or those who create their account on the day of launch or after, will need to complete the entire first time user experience track and win 50 Quick Play matches before they can access Competitive. Those who ranked in the first Overwatch will be able to play Competitive in Overwatch 2 immediately.
Gone are the days of numeric skill rating (SR) values. In Overwatch 2, players will be placed in skill tier divisions. While the tiers of Bronze through Grand Master are still the same, each tier will be split into five divisions, with one being the highest and five being the lowest. For example, a player who’s in the skill tier Gold Two is ranked higher than a player in Gold Four.
Players’ skill tiers will be adjusted every seven wins or 20 losses in a new summary called competitive updates. Each competitive update will give players information on their performance over the last several Competitive matches and takes the pressure off of winning or losing a single game to see a rank change. The Overwatch 2 development team hopes that this will result in players feeling less stuck, as many did when they watched their SR go up and down by incremental changes every time they finished a match.
If you played Competitive in the first Overwatch, your rank won’t be wiped clean when you start playing Competitive in Overwatch 2. The development team says players can “redefine” their rank when they begin playing and most players’ ranks will be slightly lower than they were in the first game. Players who haven’t ranked in the first game for a while will also have their internal matchmaking rating, or MMR, adjusted more quickly to compensate for their return. All players will remain unranked until they receive their first competitive update after seven wins or 20 losses.
There are also new ways to view post-match numbers, including a new section called Game Reports on players’ profiles that shows you statistics on the heroes you use and more. There are more updates coming to Game Reports in the future.
Some of the changes are being made in the name of reducing toxicity. Users will no longer be able to see other players’ levels or their competitive rank on the pre-match screen in Competitive. Instead, they’ll see players’ new customizable name cards and titles. This change, when combined with the introduction of the ping system and the removal of medals, allows players to avoid potentially toxic messages and prevents allies from judging them based on their level or skill ranking before the match even starts.
This is only part of the full list of Competitive changes that Blizzard is bringing to Overwatch 2. As fun as the first game was, many players complained about staying in the same rank for a long time, with some comparing it to League of Legends’ Elo hell and calling themselves “hard stuck.” By adding more tools to help players improve over time and removing some of the original Overwatch’s most frustrating moments, the development team hopes to reintroduce the fun to Competitive.
Overwatch 2 launches in early access on Oct. 4.
