Warzone players call for separate “Casual” and “Ranked” game modes

Liam Mackay
Warzone Ranked mode

With Warzone players reporting that skill-based matchmaking has been ramped up following Season 3 Reloaded, they’re once again calling for separate “Casual” and “Ranked” modes.

Warzone has long reached the point in its lifecycle where everyone knows the meta weapons and strategies. As more and more Call of Duty players become battle royale savvy, the game gets more competitive and difficult.

With skill-based matchmaking (SBMM), designed to pair players of similar skill together, still being a contentious issue, players have become increasingly frustrated with the difficulty of their Warzone matches. To counter the problem, the community is getting behind the suggestion to add a “Casual” and “Ranked” mode to the game.

Warzone Woods and Price

Having a Ranked mode for Warzone isn’t an entirely new concept, but calls for its implementation have increased after the Season 3 Reloaded update.

Reddit user FrankBlazi called on Raven Software to implement the separate modes, saying that “Warzone truly needs to separate a “Casual” game mode with a “Ranked” game mode.”

“SBMM is truly getting out of hand since the last update,” FrankBlazi explained. “I’m not sure what exactly has changed with the algorithm but it’s gotten to the point where we aren’t enjoying the game anymore because the SBMM is consistently placing us in overmatched lobbies.”

They continued, suggesting that there should be separate Ranked and Casual modes, similar to how Rainbow Six Siege does it. The casual mode would be a “true mixed bag of players prioritized by ping and connection over skill” and Ranked would have players of a similar skill set.

Many players agreed with the idea but there were some criticisms, with players saying it wouldn’t make the lobbies any easier, and hackers may dominate Ranked.

Although Activision has banned over 500,000 Warzone cheaters, it still remains a constant thorn in both the players’ and developers’ sides, with a Raven dev saying they’re ruining the best work of his life. Some players are concerned that the high levels of the Ranked mode will be filled with cheaters, only amplifying the problem.

With us now over halfway through the Season, and Warzone Season 4 expected to drop mid-June, perhaps Raven Software have a Ranked system up their sleeve.

Image Credit: Activision

About The Author

Liam is CharlieIntel's Editor who focuses on Call of Duty but also plays lots of fantasy RPGs or anything else in his massive gaming backlog. After graduating in Journalism from Edinburgh Napier University, Liam freelanced in games journalism before joining CharlieIntel in November 2020. You can contact Liam at [email protected].