Activision announced that in 2023, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will get Ranked Play, offering a more competitive way to play the game. This announcement was well-received by the community, especially following the success of Ranked Play in Black Ops Cold War and Vanguard. With the upcoming release of Warzone 2.0 drawing ever closer, it makes sense for the free-to-play Battle Royale game to follow suit with a ranked mode of its own. It’s unclear if this feature will be added, but without it, Warzone 2.0 risks repeating one of the worst mistakes of its predecessor.
Why Warzone 2.0 needs a ranked mode
The original Warzone is known for its complexities, which can be a double-edged sword for some players. Those looking to extract every bit of content from the game have plenty to do, though the game risks overwhelming causal players with its ever-growing list of weapons and complicated mechanics.
Even if you enjoy the game’s intricacies, it’s a lot to keep up with, making it tough to compete with those who play for hours each day.
Because of the strict skill-based matchmaking (SBMM) system, players are forced to consistently keep up with Warzone avoid being outgunned by someone with a “meta” loadout. This also discourages taking breaks from the game, as it always feels like getting thrown to the wolves after coming back.
A skilled player will typically get placed into a difficult match. This makes sense because of the SBMM, but it often impedes upon the fun factor — especially if the player is a little rusty or if they haven’t fully leveled up the latest weapon.
The idea of SBMM is to protect casuals, but it inadvertently penalizes skilled players in some ways. Sometimes, you might just want to jump into a match to have fun — without getting annihilated.
That’s where Ranked Play comes in, effectively solving many of the aforementioned issues. Having a standard or casual mode — which would have very loose SBMM (or none at all) — along with a Ranked mode with strict SBMM — would allow everyone to enjoy at their own pace. Causal players wouldn’t get demolished by experts in Ranked mode, while skilled players could jump into a standard match to have a much more relaxed experience.
Each time a new weapon or mechanic is added, players could jump into a casual match to test things out instead of getting destroyed in Ranked.
As it stands, you’re immediately at a disadvantage when using a brand-new weapon, as you’re likely to get matched with others who have better attachments unlocked, especially if you’re a higher-skilled player. Being able to level up weapons in casual mode would allow players to prepare before jumping into ranked.
Lower-skilled users might get thrown into a tough casual match depending on the players in the lobby. But the next match might be the exact opposite — it would ebb and flow, offering more variety than in Ranked Play.
At this point, Activision hasn’t confirmed if Warzone 2.0 will get Ranked Play, but it truly would be a win-win for the community. But considering Activision and its Call of Duty developers have been more responsive to feedback recently, we’re hopeful Warzone 2.0 will implement Ranked Play.
Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 launches on November 16, 2022.
