Blizzard plans Overwatch 2 ranked improvements in new seasons

Blizzard promised changes, but offers no specific plans

Blizzard has some changes in store for Overwatch 2 ranked battles in the coming months, aimed at improving “clarity” and matchmaking, though what these changes are is a bit unclear. Overwatch 2 game director Aaron Keller made the announcement in a new blog post, where he acknowledged fan concerns about the multiplayer game, but didn’t really offer a hint about how Blizzard plans to address them.

Top on the list of concerns is rank and skill levels in Overwatch 2’s ranked modes. Players are often grouped with others of a higher or lower rank thanks to a hidden stat that tracks player skill level. A platinum-rank player might find themselves teamed up with a silver-rank ally if the game thinks they both share the same skill level, and it’s led to some less-than-happy fans who think they’re being matched with low-skill teammates and set up for failure.

Keller said the planned changes will improve “poor comprehension” and provide clarity about skill and rank levels over the game’s next two seasons, but didn’t say how.

He also addressed ongoing complaints about hero balance, particularly those who can eliminate an opponent with one well-aimed shot, such as Widowmaker and Sojourn. 

Whether that includes changes to the increasingly common complaints about Mercy remains to be seen. Here, too, Keller didn’t have any specific details about Blizzard’s plans, but he did say the team will implement more hotfixes to address issues in future seasons, alongside the usual updates at the start of a season and in the middle.