Deadlock isn’t even out yet, and Valve is already planning some big changes to matchmaking. Now that the Half-Life and Portal developer’s new MOBA is public, with over 150,000 people playing the invite-only version at once, Valve is openly talking about how the shooter works. With so many players flooding in, though, it looks like Valve’s matchmaking can’t keep up. If you’re in the Deadlock Discord you can easily get a sneak peek at the studio’s plans, and one of them is a big change to MMR.
If you’re out of the loop on MMR, I’ll catch you up to speed. Matchmaking Ranking (MMR) is a system that many competitive multiplayer games use to put players of similar skill levels in matches together. Typically, depending on how you play, you’re assigned a number and are subsequently matched with people of a similar number. MMR works differently for every game that uses it, as developers tweak where the value comes from, and what it means for the matches you play.
According to Valve, Deadlock currently uses a hero and lane-based system to determine your MMR, but it still needs a lot of work. If the MMR disparity between teammates is substantial enough, you’re met with this message before starting a match: “Your party contains a wide skill range of players. This will result in a more difficult match for your party.”
Deadlock developer ‘Yoshi’ says “The primary way this happens is one medium/high MMR player partied with a low MMR/new player.” They’re then asked if both hero and lane-based matchmaking are involved with Deadlock’s MMR, and their response explains how Valve wants to change the current system.
“The hero-based MMR one doesn’t work very well at the moment. It’ll be more effective once we finish a full rewrite of the MM system we are working on.”
Remember that Deadlock is still in early development, with Valve saying it has a lot of “experimental gameplay.” This means plenty can still change before a full reveal and release, with the Deadlock Discord a key way for Valve to evaluate player feedback.
To that end, Deadlock now has wall jumps and climbable ziplines, which are both absolute game-changers. The wall jump doesn’t consume stamina and encourages even more mobility, while the new ziplines replace bounce pads to help you get above the chaos.
If you haven’t managed to get into Valve’s new shooter yet we’ve got all the Deadlock playtest info for you, alongside a look at all the upcoming PC games you need to keep an eye on.
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