More than a rating
Rating alone does not place a player. The matchmaker must also respect region, game mode, party size, and sometimes language or platform. Each combination defines a pool of compatible players, and within a pool players wait in a queue.
Forming matches from a pool
- Tickets enter the pool tagged with rating, region, and party size.
- The matchmaker periodically scans the pool and tries to assemble groups that satisfy team sizes and rating closeness.
- A party of friends must stay together, so the matcher balances around the party average rating.
Trading quality for speed
A thin pool, like a rare mode at an odd hour, has few candidates. The matchmaker relaxes constraints over time: widening rating, then allowing nearby regions, then mixing platforms. Each relaxation lowers match quality but prevents endless waits. Healthy systems track queue time and match quality as competing metrics.
Key idea
Pools group compatible players by region and mode, queues order them, and gradual constraint relaxation balances wait time against match quality.