Skill Based Matchmaking is Coming to Destiny 2

As the still unnamed Season 18 comes even closer to its release date, more eyes drift from the Solstice and towards the future, and though Bungie has been unable to share as much as they have in the past due to safety concerns, some new information about the future of the game still comes out through This Week at Bungie and some other channels, and recently there’s been some news that could change the landscape of Destiny 2’s PvP.

Starting next season, Bungie is going to be changing how matchmaking works for the Control playlist in the Crucible, with the possibility of expanding the changes to other modes and other playlists in later seasons. The goal of these changes is to make sure that all guardians, from the new lights to the old, can hope to have a competitive match in the Crucible, though it will take seasons of tweaking to get it perfect, and to decide exactly what a perfect matchmaking system even looks like.

To start off with, they are aiming for the goal of giving everyone entering the Crucible, solo or fireteam, old or new, around a 40-60 percent chance of winning any game they are matched into. However, Bungie does have a lot to consider, as connection strength and matchmaking speed are both still important pillars of a PvP experience, not just appropriate skill level. To help with that consideration, they need to apply hard numbers to just what a skill level is, and though Bungie is not considering making a players skill a published stat at this time, they did describe a lot of the hard data they use to calculate the 0-2000 measurement. Things like KD Ratio, captures, revives, how well you know your character, round wins, and of course, how you work with your team all contribute to how your skill will be measured up. Of course, no system is perfect, so the fewer games the system has seen you play, the less drastic the matchmaking changes will be until they get a proper look at your skills.

This new matchmaking system could be just the improvement the Crucible needs, as by Bungie’s estimation, over half of all current Control matches are over before they even begin, with players having up to a 900 point skill difference, leading to a handful of players needing to carry, and the rest not having a chance to effect the match. With the changes to matchmaking, every game should be closer, and every guardian will have their chance to shine. With a fight that’s about to get more competitive than ever, and the chance for glory at your fingertips, you know who you want on your side. See you in the Crucible guardians.