Many Overwatch 2 players are not happy with the sequel's new ranked competition mode, and Blizzard is beginning to agree: Overwatch 2 game director Aaron Keller addressed recent player complaints in a new blog article (opens in new tab) that improvements to Competitive mode will be made in the coming months, including "more clarity" on the meaning of ranks.

Confusion over how the ranking tiers (opens in new tab) (skill categories from Bronze to Platinum, peaking at "Top 500") in Overwatch 2 affect matchmaking has been hounding players since Season 1. Some players report being frustrated by inconsistent (open in new tab) skill levels of teammates and opponents. This metric is especially difficult to track because Overwatch 2 hides a player's "true" MMR. Overwatch 2 is a particularly difficult metric to track because it hides a player's "real" MMR.

This results in the not-so-uncommon situation of being matched with players who are ranked much higher or lower than you. In theory, these players actually have the same, invisible MMR level as you, but even Blizzard seems to acknowledge that this is an unnecessarily confusing practice.

"The new Ranked mode suffered from poor comprehension," Keller wrote. Citing his experience of facing players with indicated ranks that did not match their true skills, Keller said that this created a "negative impression of matchmakers," even if technically they are doing their job.

"We implemented some changes in S3 and will implement more in S4. More details on the short term changes and the long term vision will be forthcoming."

What form these changes will take varies, but it would be wise to think small. Earlier this month, Jared Noyce, executive producer of "Overwatch 2," said in a reply to a tweet (opens in new tab) that there are no plans to return to the ranking system of "Overwatch 1," which used a numerical skill rating system as well as medal ranks We have made it clear." The new system has good goals, but it needs work to implement and must be adapted based on feedback from players like you."

In the short term, "improvements" could be as simple as improving the in-game information page explaining the difference between rank and MMR. If you ask me, it seems like a much larger adjustment is needed.

The publicly available skill tiers should always represent at least approximately where you are in the true MMR equation, with some leeway to allow ranks to be moved more frequently and to ward off those who would try to cheat the system. Otherwise, there is no point in having ranks." Right now, the fact that an Overwatch 2 player who is a Diamond on paper may actually be at the skill level of a Grand Master or Platinum player is clearly backwards. It cheapens the whole concept of rank mode and turns what should be a sign of skill into an arbitrary number that sometimes goes up and sometimes down.

Overwatch 2 Season 3 is scheduled to begin in early February.