Overwatch 2 dev reveals how new matchmaking update prevents “unfun” matches

The Overwatch 2 devs have shared more information about the dreaded “loser’s queue” and how they took action to fix it in the game’s latest patch.

Overwatch 2 finally acknowledged that a “loser’s queue” exists in its May 14 update, confirming once and for all that players on a losing streak would occasionally be put in matches where they’re unfavored.

The May 14 patch addressed this, revealing that the matchmaker would now avoid placing a player on a losing streak on a team that is “statistically calculated to have a lower chance of winning.”

In a thread on X, Overwatch 2 Server Engineer Morgan Maddren weighed in on this change and shared even more details about how the team intends to make matches more “fun” through this update.

According to Maddren, most OW2 matches “look incredibly close to the matchmaker” but there are still games where one team is definitely favored to win. When these matches were being made, streaks weren’t being accounted for which could lead to someone who just lost several games being out in a very unfavorable position.

“This just felt like a bad match for us to be making. It seems less likely to be a fun match,” he explained. “So all this change is doing is telling the matchmaker to stop making those matches, just avoiding this case we think is clearly bad.”

He further noted that while this new tech is trying to avoid these unfavorable matchups, the devs would never try to create unbalanced matches intentionally or force players into a situation where they’re far more likely to win or lose.

“Loss streaks aren’t very fun, but they’re a fact of life in a competitive game. The matchmaker is not artificially preventing loss streaks. We just don’t need to be randomly making loss streaks longer,” he added.

This update comes as Overwatch continues to refine its matchmaking and make OW2 a more “fair” game. For instance, console players who abuse third-party peripherals to compete with a mouse and keyboard are going to be punished severely once Season 11 kicks off.