In specific cases, a player's rank for a certain Competitive playlist in Rocket League may be adjusted upwards to reflect the players actual skill. Rocket League Competitive players, Were introducing an update to the Competitive rank system designed to increase match quality. Specifically, this change addresses unintentional smurfing, which is when a player is at a rank below their actual skill level simply because they havent played a specific playlist in a while. Since the start of 2024, this change to the system has been tested on small groups of players across all Competitive Playlists. Because weve seen a significantly positive impact on match quality and player experience in these groups, we rolled out this change to all players earlier this week. From now on, a players Competitive rank will be evaluated when theyre completing their placement matches, and may be adjusted upwards if the new system recognizes that their starting rank is too low. A players predicted rank is based on their rank in other Competitive Playlists. While building this feature, we analyzed skill transference between playlists, and found that a players rank can be predicted with high accuracy using their ranks from other playlists. A rank change will only happen when all three of the following scenarios are true:

• The player played at least ten matches of a certain Competitive Playlist in the previous Season. (This means the player is fresh in the playlist.)
• In the previous Season, the player did NOT play the Competitive Playlist theyre currently queuing for. (This means the player is stale in the playlist.)
• The player has a rank significantly below their predicted rank for the playlist theyre currently queuing for.

For example, consider a player who was Silver in both Doubles and Hoops two Seasons ago, and now is Diamond in Doubles but hasnt played Hoops since. When they begin their placement matches for Hoops, their rank may be automatically adjusted upwards. This change is one of several we mentioned earlier this year for improving gameplay. Have more questions? Well try to answer the ones we anticipate in the FAQ below!

COMPETITIVE RANK SYSTEM CHANGES - FAQ

Q: MY HIGHEST RANK IS DIAMOND III. DOES THIS MEAN YOULL ADJUST ME TO DIAMOND III IN ALL MY STALE PLAYLISTS? A: Most likely not, as skill transference is not necessarily one-to-one between playlists. Playstyle differences between playlists are taken into consideration. In most cases, players would be placed within a few ranks of Diamond III, but all adjustments are made on a case-by-case basis. Q: I HAVE MULTIPLE FRESH PLAYLIST RANKS. WHICH WILL YOU USE TO MAKE PREDICTIONS, THE HIGHEST ONE? A: It depends on several factors. Ultimately, the playlist ranks that allow for the most confident prediction will be used. Q: SO PLAYERS ARE BEING REWARDED WITH A HIGHER RANK WITHOUT HAVING TO WIN MATCHES? A: In this case, the higher rank is a rank thats fair for the player, their teammates, and their opponents. We believe its preferable to the alternative of players smurfing to win those matches (unintentionally or not). Also, the adjusted rank is determined from existing ranks, so adjusted players will generally not be rewarded with a rank theyve never achieved before across all playlists. Q: IF IVE NEVER PLAYED A GIVEN PLAYLIST AT ALL, WILL IT BE CONSIDERED STALE? A: Yes. Q: WITH SNOW DAY AND DROPSHOT ALTERNATING EACH SEASON, WILL ALL PLAYERS RANKS BE CONSIDERED STALE FOR THESE PLAYLISTS WHEN THEY RETURN? A: Yes, and we believe this will have a positive impact on these playlists, since players will likely be more evenly distributed skill-wise. (As a reminder, just because a rank is stale does not always mean its going to be adjusted. The other two rank adjustment scenarios must occur.) Q: WILL THIS CHANGE APPLY TO TOURNAMENT RANKS? A: It will not, but we may consider this in the future. Q: WILL RANKS ALSO BE ADJUSTED DOWNWARDS? A: No, but we may consider it in the future. Q: IS PERFORMANCE IN CASUAL PLAYLISTS TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT FOR COMPETITIVE PLAYLIST PLACEMENTS? A: It is not, but we may consider this in the future. Note: Along with improving matchmaking quality for all players, we know server performance and DDOS match disruptions are top of mind for many of you. We're working towards the needed fixes for these DDOS disruptions, and were also mid-stream on changes to our server fleet. Well share more on both of these when fixes and changes are complete. We appreciate the communitys patience while we work on these issues.