How does Competitive work in Overwatch 2?

Competitive play in Overwatch has always been probably the most vocal and apparent part of the community. They created the Overwatch League to give the best of the best in their own main league, with players constantly coming back to play through the dozens of seasons in the first game. While the more casual Quick Play experience is still here and easily accessible, a large group of gamers want to see what happens with Competitive. With the release of Overwatch 2, competitive mode is getting a bit of a makeover. Here are all the changes and how Overwatch 2’s ranked ladder will work.

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How ranked play works in Overwatch 2

Before you can start playing Competitive in Overwatch 2, you need to unlock it. If you already had it unlocked in the first game, you will automatically have access in the sequel. If you are playing with a new account, you must first win 50 Quick Play matches, not just play. This new stipulation is because there is no longer a portrait level system in Overwatch 2. In the first game, you needed to reach level 25 before you could play Competitive. Without that, this ensures that new players are doing everything they can to win and prevents new people from setting up matches to play against lesser-skilled teams.

Also, SR, or Skill Rating, is being replaced with Skill Level divisions. Instead of a numerical value that increases or decreases after each game, you’ll be placed in a division that adjusts after five wins or 15 losses or ties starting in Season 3. As before, there are still seven tiers in total: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Master, and Grand Master, but this time, all of these levels have five divisions. Five is on the low end, with one being the last step before advancing a level. As before, there is a role queue or open queue which are separate rankings on your profile.

Image via Blizzard Entertainment

With your level changing after every five wins or 15 losses, there are no longer five placement losses that decide where you start on the competitive ladder. Going back to the old system, when you see your placement at the start of a new season, it may be lower than normal. This is supposed to help you feel like you’re climbing as you win games. However, this feature will be removed when Season 4 comes out.

If you decide not to play Overwatch 2 for a while, your skill rating will start to drop, just like in the previous version, though that too will be removed starting in Season 4. While your skill rating will drop, it can quickly return to normal if he performs well in his matches. Finally, the main competitive reward of spending competitive points on golden weapons for your heroes remains the same, but you’ll also unlock a special title at the end of a season that can be used on your profile card in the following season. These titles are supposed to be in line with the theme of the season in which they were obtained, for example, Cyberpunk in the first season.

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