Blizzard reveals Overwatch 2 glitch skewed ranked placements “too low” at launch

Blizzard has shipped a fix to Overwatch 2’s ranked system after a chorus of complaints over placements. The developers opened up on the glitch causing it as most players finished their initial rank grind far below their expected level.

If you jumped into Overwatch 2 ranked across the opening two weeks, you would have been surprised to see your rank fall so far. 

Most players placed near the bottom of the ladder in Bronze despite going undefeated, and even veteran Top 500 players in the old system had to start their grind in Platinum or lower.

It’s led to a tedious climb to the top as, combined with the new ranking system taking some time to progress through, there’s a huge amount of unbalanced games to play on the way.

Blizzard has apologized to players for the miscued ranked system launch, and blamed the progression issues on a bug: “Our team would like to apologize for ranking many players too low during the first week of Overwatch 2,” developers said on October 13.

“We discovered a bug that was impacting player skill ratings, which is what contributed to many players being placed in Bronze 5 when they should have been placed higher.”

The game’s latest update, shipped on the same day, addressed these issues. Players who finished their placements will receive a boost in their games, while those who hadn’t finished their placements won’t be affected.

“Our most recent patch included a fix that will help you get back to your true rank quickly, and that will be reflected the next time you receive a competitive ranking update,” Blizzard added.

“You will receive a boost as you continue playing to help you get up to the correct ranks. Players who haven’t yet placed in competitive won’t experience this issue after the fix goes live.”

However, the ranked system issues don’t stop there. Some players have also complained about how rewards for competitive, and even the way the tiers are presented, are underwhelming. Blizzard wants to make this more celebratory, and are exploring what that looks like.

“We’re also watching your feedback about how we present your skill tier and division and how you celebrate that in-game. While we don’t have any details we can share yet, expect us to make more improvements to Competitive, and we will continue to watch for your feedback.”

The developers have also addressed a number of other complaints in the latest developer blog following the game’s rocky launch including balance concerns, perceived issues with hit registration and mouse sensitivity, and more.