For many of Overwatch's 25 million registered players, one of the most frustrating aspects of the game's Competitive Play mode is how easy it is to be caught in a frustrating run of losses, which in turn rapidly drains a player's hard-earned Skill Rating points. But thanks to new changes to the matchmaking system, the effects of losing multiple times in a row should be mitigated somewhat.

In a new post over at the Blizzard Forums, Overwatch principal designer Scott Mercer states that the recently-implemented patch 1.10 adjusts the game's Competitive Play streak multiplier, which is a Skill Rating change multiplier based on whether a player has consecutive wins or losses. Prior to the 1.10 patch, this streak multiplier existed to quickly adjust players to a matchmaking bracket that is a reflection of their skill level, as well as a measure to eliminate smurfing in Overwatch.

While the streak multiplier aims to rank players as accurately and quickly as possible, it has proved to be a bit too aggressive and the latest patch aims to make things a bit more forgiving for Overwatch Competitive Mode players. Not only will players now have to win (or lose) more games in a row for the multiplier to be used, Skill Ratings will also be scaled up at a slower pace.

"Therefore, we’re changing the tuning of the streak multiplier to be quite a bit less aggressive. You now need to win or lose more games in a row before any multiplier is used, and it scales up at a slower pace. Furthermore, we will now try to only use the multiplier in cases where the matchmaking system has some confidence that the player’s MMR and skill are wildly mismatched. In cases of natural, random streaks, you ideally shouldn’t see any acceleration either up or down at all."

Overwatch Ana Dva Sniping

For those who aren't interested in Overwatch's Competitive Play, there's the new Uprising event to enjoy. While the streak multiplier won't play any role in this new game mode, players will certainly have plenty of non-Competitive Play content to enjoy thanks to two new game modes, as well as a wealth of new cosmetic items.

Mercer did say that the new changes will be continually monitored and adjusted, but players will undoubtedly be happy with the new tweak to Overwatch's Competitive Play streak multiplier. Hopefully these adjustments will help alleviate any matchmaking issues going forward, and if not, then perhaps the awesome new Blackwatch Genji skin will help mitigate the frustration somewhat.

Overwatch is available now on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

Source: Blizzard