In Destiny 2, nearly a million players were active in PvP at the same time at the beginning of July. It seems Bungie’s matchmaking plan is coming together.
What’s happening in July in Destiny 2? Currently, the first Iron Banner of Season 11 is underway – a one-week PvP event held once a month. However, the Iron Banner is doing some things differently this time, which is reflected in the player numbers.
What’s behind the record numbers in PvP? The July Iron Banner has led to player numbers in PvP that haven’t been seen in this capacity for a long time. According to the US site GameRant, it is the most popular Iron Banner event Destiny 2 has ever had.
In the first days of the event, nearly a million players played simultaneously in PvP, which includes the Iron Banner; according to DestinyTracker, on July 1st there were 942,766 Guardians.
Meanwhile, only 956,282 players were engaged in PvE – a phenomenon not seen in a long time. Normally, significantly more players are active in PvE than in PvP.
For immediate comparison: On June 29, according to DestinyTracker, there were still 794,873 players in the Crucible and 945,433 in PvE.
This is the controversial change: The first Iron Banner of Season 1 does some things differently. There were, among other things, changes to loot and new, event-specific perks for weapons.
There were also changes to matchmaking. For the first time, the Iron Banner in July does not rely on skill-based matchmaking (SBMM). This means your skill and stats do not influence which opponents you are assigned to in the Iron Banner.
You can learn more about it here: Destiny 2: First Iron Banner in Season 11 starts – What’s changing
This change was already introduced by Bungie in large parts of the Crucible at the beginning of June and aims to bring more fun back to PvP in Destiny 2. The goal is to have shorter waiting times before matches, and to ensure better connection quality. It should simply go more relaxed and carefree. Players should not always have to “sweat” and give their best but rather have fun, according to Bungie.
In Season 11, skill-based matchmaking was also disabled in the Iron Banner. However, the change is controversial and is debated by some – even here at MeinMMO.
There are players who find it much more enjoyable and fun now, but also some who dislike it entirely. They say the chance of being taken apart by overwhelmingly strong teams is now much higher. Weaker players might hardly stand a chance, as they can now be matched against significantly stronger Guardians.
Are the high numbers solely attributable to the matchmaking? It is difficult to judge to what extent the new matchmaking actually played a role here. However, especially in conjunction with the Iron Banner, which has seemingly lost its former glory, this change seems to make many players happy.
Top loot has been available in the Iron Banner for a while. So that shouldn’t be a reason for such a spike. Although there’s a shorter quest and new perks, even these are not so outstanding as to justify such an increase in players.
Furthermore, the Iron Banner does not take place at the start of a new season, and there are currently no really new contents. The new matchmaking likely brought some additional players to the Crucible – not entirely on its own, but rather in conjunction with the other adjustments in the Iron Banner. It seems, therefore, that Bungie hit the nerve of many players with the change despite some loud criticism.
What do you think? Is the noticeable increase in players in PvP due to the new matchmaking, or is it attributable to something else? Was moving away from SBMM the right choice? By the way, in the Iron Banner, there was another, but not communicated change that may be of interest to some players: Why the Iron Banner might be really worthwhile for you this time
