Blizzard has confirmed that Overwatch 2 is set to replace skill rating with skill tier divisions, as part of a number of changes coming to the sequel’s competitive mode.
According to the developer, the decision to remove skill rating as a numerical value that shifts after each match was taken in an effort to “relieve the sense of being stuck at a certain rank.”
“Seeing your SR go up and down after each match almost felt like taking a test with the teacher passing or failing you based on each individual question rather than your complete work,” a recent post on the game’s website explains. “It was a lot of pressure, and it doesn’t give players an accurate representation of how they’re performing overall in Competitive.”
Overwatch 2’s competitive mode still features tiers – ranging from Bronze all the way through to Grand Master –, each one having five divisions that stretch from 5 (lowest) to 1 (highest). The top 500 players will not have to deal with a separate set of tier divisions.
“Tier Divisions represent the same skill levels as SR, but they give players a higher-level view of where they’re placed in Competitive,” according to the developer. “Each division represents approximately a 100 SR range. Players will receive a competitive update every seven wins, or 20 losses, instead of every single game.”
The hope here is that the sequel’s approach to the mode will see less pressure being put on player performance in each individual game, although working together with your team is just as important as in the past.
In other competitive mode news, new Overwatch 2 players will only unlock it once they win 50 quick play matches.
The hero shooter enters early access as a free-to-play title on October 4, when players will be able to try out PvP and its new 5v5 match format. Its planned PvE component won’t launch until next year.
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