Apex Legends has gone through a lot of changes since its release. The popular battle royale title features a rapidly growing player list, new content and events every two months, and the gameplay changes almost every season. Now, Apex Legends may be getting the biggest change yet in the form of a new matchmaking system.
Apex Legends uses a skill-based matchmaking system that has been the subject of debate among fans regarding the effectiveness of the system. Now, Respawn has shared details about a new matchmaking system that seems to feature a lot of improvements.
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The new matchmaking system was tested in multiple regions during Season 15. Respawn has confirmed that the old matchmaking system will be retired and the new matchmaking system will slowly roll out over time. Respawn previously released data from a new playtest of the matchmaking system in one region, showing an improved distribution of players with one or more killgames.
Apex Legends Technical Director Samy Duc analyzes the new matchmaking system with explanations of the progression system, skill ranking and matchmaking in the new system. Here are all the changes to the new Apex Legends matchmaking system.
How does the new Apex Legends matchmaking system work?
The new matchmaking takes progression data into account. Looking at the progression system, Respawn has shown that account level doesn’t exactly indicate player skill due to so many outliers. So the new matchmaking system takes that data into account and further values ​​player skill over account level. While the progression system doesn’t appear to have changed, the shared progression data shows all the factors that the new matchmaking system considers.
Skill Ranking Changes in the New Apex Legends Matchmaking System
Apex Legends assigns each player a numerical skill level that is affected by in-game performance. The current skill rating system distributes players in matchmaking based on game mode and lobby. When playing solo, players in Pubs will be matched up with other players to create an average matchmaking skill rating. In Ranked, players are matched up with players with similar skills. The new system aims to distribute player skill more evenly by adjusting matchmaking, including factoring in party size.
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Players in pre-made groups often have advantages over individual players, however the current system only uses the highest skill of players in pre-made lobbies. The new system will not use the player’s highest skill, but will include slight skill rating improvements for players in pre-made lobbies, while also finding more balanced matchmaking based on the skill of all players.
Overall, the new system appears to more fairly distribute players in matchmaking, while also considering a number of factors that can affect player skill and experience. Respawn hasn’t indicated when the new system will be fully implemented, but some regions are already playing with the new matchmaking system in Season 15.
For more information on Apex Legends, see What is Hardcore Royale in Apex Legends? here at MyFullGames.