The information in this post has been updated for 2024.
Overwatch 2’s skill-based matchmaking (SBMM) system has been malfunctioning for some time, leading to unbalanced matches. In December 2022, players in the Bronze tier were paired with top 500 players, and more recently, Gold players have been matched with Grandmaster-level players. This issue was supposed to be resolved by the game’s developers in December, but it persisted into 2024.
Aaron Keller, the game’s director, addressed the matchmaking problem on Twitter, stating that the developers have already started fixing the issue. The changes were rolled out on Valentine’s Day, and Keller promises that any additional necessary changes will be made. The blog will also cover the impact of several matchmaking changes in Season 3. Keller noted that while these changes have generally been positive, they have inadvertently led to Gold players being placed in Grandmaster-level lobbies. The new fixes are intended to address this problem.
The developer team implemented numerous changes to the game in Season 3, including updating rank after five wins or 15 losses instead of seven wins or 20 losses.
If you continue to experience unbalanced matchmaking, you can try out Loverwatch, a non-canon dating simulator set in Overwatch 2’s universe, while the developers work to fix the matchmaking issues.