Riot Dev Reveals How Valorant’s MMR System Really Works

Valorant’s ranked system has been criticized a lot in the recent past with some players experiencing a loss in MMR despite maintaining a positive win rate. Matchmaking has also been criticized, since several players who cheat, throw, or are boosted do not get punished for weeks. 

In response to these criticisms, a Riot developer shared his thoughts on the MMR system and explained how it really works to players on Reddit. 

How Does the Valorant MMR System Work?

A thread was posted recently by u/hardstuckbabe who commenting on the recent ranked changes and claimed that it boosted way too many people. In response, Riot developer EvrMoar who is the Senior Competitive Designer for Valorant broke down various examples to show how the ranked system works.  

He started off using made-up numbers and responded “You are Iron 2 if you are between 400-500 MMR.’ Turns out, iron 2 had too many players in it, we overestimated how many players would end up at that 400-500 MMR. So, to fix it we now say ‘You are in Iron 2 if you are between 400-420 MMR, and Iron 3 421-480 MMR, etc.’ The player that is 450 MMR would go from Iron 2, to Iron 3, without actually changing their skill/MMR. Because MMR is a reflection of the players skill, that number didn’t change.”

He explained that whenever Valorant’s matchmaking system matches players, it uses the player MMR to match them with other players of the same MMR. According to him, it does not matter what ranks the players in our lobbies are because the only deciding factor is the MMR, and all players are within the same MMR bracket. If it looks like you are being matched with players who are lower or above your skill bracket, it is not the case. 

Future ranked changes will address this issue in detail and will improve how the game’s matchmaking system works. One of the problems that are present in the upper echelon of the ranked tiers is getting a full lobby of players from the same rank. This is a major problem especially in lesser populated servers or during off-hours. High-skilled players are forced into lobbies from lower ranks and it not only ruins the experience for players who are Diamond or lower, but it also makes it a less enjoyable experience for top Radiant players who want to compete at their own level. Multiple ranked changes will be implemented in upcoming updates along with changes to Riot’s handling of cheaters, AFKers and throwers which should improve everyone’s ranked experience. 

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