XDefiant devs aiming to keep casual fun and ranked competitive

XDefiant is all set to release on May 21 and the developers have reassured players that they aim to provide a fun experience to all players rather than focusing on the grind. As such, the Ranked and Casual game modes will have their differences.

Each of the modes will prioritize different sets of rules as per the announcement and as previously mentioned, the developers have once again made clear that casual matchmaking will not be skill-based, which has been the complaint of many players in the online gaming community.

Here’s how the casual mode will matchmake -

Latency

Avoided players

Party size

Region

Input device

Platform

Here’s how Ranked mode will matchmake -

Rank Points

Latency

Similar party size

Region

Input device

Platform

What difference will SBMM make?

SBMM or skill-based match-making is a common way to group players of the same group together or against each other in any online game. The fancy rank we see on the profile is also a skill indicator, paired with other internal things players are matched in a ranked game. Some argue that SBMM does nothing, while some believe it is necessary.

However, having SBMM in casual can be frustrating. In order to let players have their fun casual, the devs have completely randomized matchmaking based on the aforementioned conditions. Players from any rank can match in a bobby and the game will try to balance the team. This can help content creators get some good gameplay clips 

Aiming for fair play, the ranked matches will also reportedly feature device-based matchmaking. Meaning, that players on the mouse and keyboard will be matched with similar players. This will also not be enforced in casual. Currently, since the ranked season will start a bit later into the release of the game, it remains to see how these will affect the game.