How does SR Actually Work in MW3 Ranked Play?
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’s Ranked Play has been available for over a week now, and players are still confused on how SR actually works. Sometimes it seems as though you’re getting too much SR, and at other times you feel as though you should get more. Well, SR isn’t as simple as performing well and getting points. Here’s a full breakdown of how SR works in MW3 Ranked Play, and how you can take full advantage.
Basic SR System
The SR system in Modern Warfare 3 is simple on the surface. Win games, gain SR. Lose games, lose SR. The amount of SR you gain or lose is based on a mix between your personal performance and your team's performance. For example, if your team wins 250-0, and you end with 2.00 K/D, you’ll gain more SR than your friend who ended with a 1.20 K/D. However, there is a deeper level to SR called the Hidden Performance Range (HPR), and this explains why you may only gain 20 SR for a match, or be placed against players in much higher Skill Divisions.
Hidden Performance Range Explained
Lawrence Metten, Lead Game Designer at Treyarch, explained how the Hidden Performance Range really works. “HPR is how good our underlying performance systems think you are and how we predict you’ll stack up against other players. Beat players with a higher HPR than you and your HPR goes up, fall short of expectations and it goes down. Perform consistently and your HPR narrows in.”
HPR and SR are directly linked to each other. This means that players will gain more SR at the beginning as the game is trying to get them to their HPR. However, the closer you get to your HPR, the less SR you will earn. SR gain also changes depending on your Skill Divison. Metten said, “In lower Divisions, we put a premium on personal performance to try and graduate better players out of the starting Divisions quickly. Perform well in these Divisions and you'll earn close to the maximum SR amount available to you, based on your current distance from your HPR."
In higher Skill Divisions we focus more on team play so that all winning playstyles are equally rewarded and teamwork is encouraged. In these Divisions, how much of your available min/max SR range you earn is primarily based on the performance of your team vs your opponents. As your SR starts to catch up with your HPR, the amount of SR you'll earn for wins will start to slow and level off. At this point, SR gains may be slow going but if you manage to improve your overall performance your HPR will rise - and carry your SR with it.”
That’s everything you need to know about how SR really works in Modern Warfare 3 Ranked Play. So, if you see your SR start to level out, and you’re earning less each game, you’ll need to perform consistently well to up your HPR, and therefore rank up the Skill Divisions.
Charlie has been a freelance esports writer since May 2020, primarily focusing on Call of Duty but has written about anything and everything! He is always getting involved and looking to learn everything about esports, but is also a massive football (soccer) fan and travels around the country to watch his home team Norwich City.