Valve Drops Details On 'Team Fortress 2' Competitive Mode And Matchmaking

If you’re looking for an extra challenge in Team Fortress 2, look no further. Valve shared some details about the upcoming “Meet Your Match” update, which will include the long-awaited Competitive Mode.

YouTube

Watch On

Climb The Ranks

The new mode will allow you to compete in six-on-six-player matches. As you win (or lose) each game, you’ll earn a rank that corresponds to your performance. There are a total of 18 ranks, and each one has a unique name in addition to the rank number, such as Fresh Meat (Rank 1) or Death Merchant (Rank 18). In addition to ranks, you could also gain a gold, silver or bronze medal in each game based on your contributions in one of five categories: score, kills, damage, healing and support.

In order to actually participate in Competitive Mode, you will need to have a Premium Account. If you bought an item from the in-game Mann Co. Store or purchased a retail copy of the game before it was free, you have a Premium Account.

The rules for Competitive Mode are slightly different than your usual Team Fortress 2 game. Classes and weapons are unrestricted, there are no random critical hits, there is a fixed bullet spread for the shotgun, and you can’t change teams. On symmetrical Control Point maps, the winning team is determined by the best of three rounds (best of five rounds for higher ranks). On Attack/Defense maps, the fastest attacking team wins the game.

Meet Your Match

Obviously, playing competitively means that you’ll need to match up with and against other players of a similar level to make it a fair fight. This is where the new matchmaking system comes into play (no pun intended). Just like the ranks, the game will look at your performance in order to assign a score. That's used to put you in a group with other players that have a similar score. However, matchmaking isn’t limited to Competitive Mode. The traditional 12-on-12-player Casual Mode will also benefit from the system.

“Now, instead of jumping randomly into an in-progress game, you'll be matched into an unranked 12v12 game with players of similar skill. This means no more auto-balancing—you'll be playing a match from start to finish, with actual winners and actual losers.”

Casual players will also get a leveling system. As you play more games, you’ll earn points to gain a new level. However, Valve didn’t provide any other details as to the rewards for reaching the next player level. As for the launch date, the company is still mum on the subject.

Follow Rexly Peñaflorida II @Heirdeux. Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+.