How Apex Legends is approaching matchmaking changes

Respawn has published a new blog post, detailing the recent changes to Legends of the Apex' matchmaking and what's planned for the future. Fans of Legends of the Apex have clearly expressed the need for change in the system and this post addresses many of the key concerns.

First, it should be noted that this is not an issue that only Apex Legends suffers from. Server balancing, player ups and downs, matchmaking tools, and more is a very common issue in competitive online games. As such, many see matchmaking as one of Legends of the Apex' long-standing problems, although they manifest themselves in a variety of forms. Amid all the technical issues, players have often criticized the game's eagerness to throw players against much higher-level competitors sometimes after a single good match. Additionally, the use of skill-based matchmaking in casual games has drawn some ire for making all forms of the Battle Royale mode quite intense.

Respawn changes to Apex Legends matchmaking

In a new blog post, as part of Respawn's effort to be more transparent, the studio outlined some of the changes it's made to matchmaking over the past year. The post also addresses fan feedback and the ways in which Respawn hopes to address individual criticisms raised. All of these changes aim to make matchmaking more satisfying, helping players team up with teammates they can work with in matches with a good chance of winning.

Respawn's current matchmaking technology

From the last one Legends of the Apex blog detailing the matchmaking changes, Respawn has introduced Continuous Window Matchmaking (CWMM). CWMM is a system that changes who participates in a particular match based on the overall number of players online, which changes fairly consistently over the course of a day. When there are more players online, the breadth of skill level allowed to enter any match is reduced (and vice versa). This, in theory, should ensure that those who play during peak hours see more balanced games Apex can offer. The system can also be easily blocked by Respawn, so players don't have to wait too long in queues.

However, for this to work, it really depends on how Legends of the Apex measures player skill, which has been the focus of fan criticism. For some players, it appears the study changes these conditions every season, making the system difficult to monitor. To Respawn's credit, however, the conditions here have been succinctly broken down:

• Damage Model (used in Mixtape Mode and some non-BR LTMs): Apex tracks an ability value made up of historical average damage per game plus damage dealt in the previous game. This should stabilize at a consistent level over time, while still allowing exceptional matches to have an impact.
• Matchmaking Rating Model (all Battle Royale modes except Ranked): A player's MMR is updated when their team receives a hit or kill (or the opposite) and is mixed with placement at the end of the match. This model also improves the damage model.
• RP Model (used in Ranked Matches): A player's total Ranked Points are used to create Ranked Matches, starting in Season 20.

New changes to Apex matchmaking

Recent Legends of the Apex updates have seen even more changes. Notably, players can now see each player's rank in the lobby using a bar at the bottom of the screen. This serves as a means of transparency and as a way for players to easily report a balance error. As part of the future changes, Respawn signaled in the post that it will “flex and challenge some of the existing systems and how things have worked historically.” This suggests that some big changes could be just around the corner.

Respawn's response to fan feedback

At the heart of this transparency and initiative is, of course, Legends of the Apex players, so Respawn is looking for ways to be more transparent, making helpful changes to core systems and addressing any fan concerns. The issues with players of an unexpected skill level entering a lobby have been around for a while and have persisted as of late Legends of the Apex updates. Respawn's MMR is supposed to protect against dramatic swings in lobby difficulty, but many players still report being pitted against Predator/Master-level players after a single good match. Here, Respawn suggests that the problem here is due to a mix of factors, such as low-population queues, playing in a high-skill premade group, or an opponent's actual seasonal skill is lower than their accolades would suggest. All three are things Respawn is working on measures to account for, with this season in particular introducing longer cooldown times for better skill balance.

Another consistent piece of player feedback is how random teammates with a lower skill level can reduce overall ranking. However, Respawn suggests that these issues are less about skill gaps and more about a lack of cohesion in gameplay style, which can happen in any matchmaking game. These are more aggressive/more passive and more communicative/less communicative players being paired up. In the future Legends of the Apex seasons, Respawn will look at tuning to reduce skill gaps, but part of this will always be a team communication issue.

Respawning also provides details that increase the value of abilities to organized groups Legends of the Apexas default teams are likely to have better communication and coordination. This may explain the wobbles experienced by some players, but it's a more difficult problem than many players might imagine. A “solos with solos” and “premade with premade” approach simply doesn't provide the data and results that some fans think it would.

When it comes to matchmaking, there is no simple solution, which is why matchmaking isn't just an issue for Apex Legends. It's a problem in all competitive multiplayer games, and while each game tries to mitigate and work around it in different ways, hopefully Respawn's transparency here is helpful to players.