Last week, Aaron Keller, the director of Overwatch 2, announced the modifications set to roll out in the third season, starting February 7th. He acknowledged that the competitive mode had been problematic, causing frustration for players and the development team alike. In a recent developer update, the team provided further insight into the improvements they have in store.
The third season of Overwatch 2 will have a lower rank change requirement in competitive mode, dropping from seven to five. Moreover, it will take only 15 defeats instead of 20 to change rank. Additionally, the season will feature an improved user interface that allows players to monitor their progress toward competitive improvement at any time.
The development team is also working to address the issue of matchmaking in ranked mode, with plans to match players with similar MMR in each role to prevent significant MMR gaps or unbalanced matches. This change may cause some disruption, but the team is prepared to address any unintended consequences.
The mid-season patch will bring enhancements for players on the Top 500 leaderboard, with ranking changes occurring after every match instead of every five wins or fifteen losses. This small adjustment is expected to motivate the elite players and streamers to continue improving.
In the fourth season, set to launch in mid-April, the development team plans to introduce further competitive improvements and eliminate all seasonal rank decay and competitive rank resets.
The team recognizes matchmaking as a continuous area of focus and appreciates all feedback from the community to improve the competitive environment.