Overwatch 2 dev gives an update on ranked issues and more

Blizzard game director Aaron Keller has addressed some of the issues Overwatch 2 players are still experiencing with its ranked mode in a recent blog post.

Ever since Overwatch 2 launched last year, its ranked mode hasn’t felt quite right, in particular because players haven’t been entirely confident in what their real rank is. To help with that, Keller has put out a blog post explaining what he believes the problem is, as well as promising changes for season 3.

“The new Ranked mode suffered from poor comprehension,” wrote Keller. “There was confusion around players’ real rank and how that translated to their skill level, difficulty forming groups with friends, and a negative impression of the matchmaker when players of different ranks were put in the same match (even if their skill levels were similar).

“We will be implementing some changes in S3 and quite a few more in S4 all aimed at creating more clarity in the system. More details on short-term changes and long-term vision will be coming soonTM.”

It’s not just that players have problems with how ranked mode works, but the fact that the game doesn’t feel as rewarding as it could be, as players “can’t earn the items they want in a short enough period of time.” Keller also promised that more changes would be coming for this issue too, with details coming soon.

Changes are coming to ult costs in season 3 too, with the ult refund being lowered to 25% when swapping heroes. Keller also spoke about balance frequency, with bug and hot fixes potentially allowing the team to “address balance faster and would have enabled us to tune Hog earlier” in season 2. “We’re still planning an initial and midseason patch each season, but now have the full ability to fill in between those as necessary.”

Right now though, Overwatch 2 is running its Lunar New Year event right now, with new skins, arcade brawls, and even some Twitch drops to be earnt.