“Our lower ranks have too many people in them, and our higher ranks, not enough:” Valorant dev talks about unbalanced Rank distribution

In a recent dev Q and A, the developers at Riot Games addressed the issue of unbalanced Rank distribution in Valorant.

Valorant, Riot’s first-person shooter, has gained popularity worldwide within a year of its launch. The balance between tactical gameplay ability and skillful weapon gunplay makes it a popular choice.

With the current Valorant Episode 3 Act 1, there have been complaints regarding unfair Rank distribution. The game has placed Gold players in the Silver ranks, while the higher ranks remain barren.

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The current Valorant Rank distribution has too many players in the lower tiers and not enough in the upper tiers

At the recent Dev Q and A, the Riot developers were asked why players usually placed in Gold rank are being put in Silver. It was also noted that the number of gamers in tiers like Silver is much higher than in previous Acts.

The latest Ask VALORANT covers ranked distribution, hiding Account Levels, and more. Get your answers here: https://t.co/xfiVgu7LsY pic.twitter.com/4I5rTNbDgy

— VALORANT (@PlayVALORANT) August 27, 2021

Jon Walker, the Competitive Designer at Valorant, stated that the changes made in Episode 3 to refine matchmaking have improved match fairness and other positive changes. However, these changes have affected every player’s MMR (Match Making Rank), which has caused everyone’s MMR to reduce by a certain percentage.

Valorant Episode 3 Act 1 Rank distribution (Image by Riot Games)

Jon Walker, the Competitive Designer at Valorant, further added:

“Now that we have gathered enough data, we can comfortably say our lower ranks have too many people in them, and our higher ranks not enough. This is what we call Ranked Distribution: the population of players in each rank. Since your rank is tied to your MMR, this led to the whole player base situated in a rank lower than intended (by a small amount).”

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Upcoming Valorant Rank distribution will reduce players in Silver and move everyone up to the proper rank

Speaking about the future, Jon Walker noted that the team at Riot aims to balance the Rank distribution. Instead of crowding the majority of players in Silver, they’ll be distributed to the ranks they belong to.

Valorant Target Rank Distribution (Image by Riot Games)

Jon Walker clarified:

“Our target now is to adjust the distribution to reduce the number of players in Silver and move everyone up to the ranks they belong. To reiterate, the above data is our goal for ranked distribution. But because the community is always shifting in skill slightly, it may not be exact. This is a complex subject. If there is anything to take away from this post, it’s that it should be a little easier to climb a few ranks in Episode 3 Act II. See you out there!”