Overwatch ruined Ranked mode, must cancel Season 18

Actually, Overwatch was officially planning to use the “Role Queue” in ranked mode. However, there was a serious error, and Season 18 had to be canceled.

Coinciding with the beginning of September, a new season was supposed to start in Overwatch. This would be the first “official” season where Blizzard’s hero shooter makes use of the new “Role Queue”. Players now have to commit to a role upon signing up, which they will embody in the match. However, there was now a significant error that is frustrating both professionals and casual players alike.

What happened? Shortly after the start of Season 18 in Overwatch, many players noticed that something was wrong with their skill rating. Right after their placement matches, they were surprised because they were ranked much lower than usual.

Even professionals who typically play in the “Grandmaster” tier suddenly had a skill rating that placed them in “Gold” or “Silver”—some even ranked as low as “Bronze,” the lowest rating.

What are the consequences? This has made Overwatch a catastrophic experience for players. A “real” player at the Gold level will, of course, be ruthlessly dismantled by an actual Grandmaster. This resulted in unbalanced and simply unfair matches, where neither side enjoyed the game.

Fans feared that there was an “MMR reset,” a complete reset of the skill rating. According to Blizzard, this was not the case and should also not happen.

Have you seen that Overwatch could soon come to the Switch?

Blizzard halts the season: Only a few hours after the start of the season, Blizzard announced that they would postpone Season 18 for the time being. They are working on a fix that is likely to go live next week. What the exact issue is was not mentioned. Therefore, the “Beta Season” will be extended until Blizzard can provide a patch for the problem.

Were you also affected by the problem? Or was Season 18 already over too quickly for you to notice anything?