Dota 2 update brings Fast Queue to ranked matchmaking

Valve continues to struggle when it comes to Dota 2 ranked matchmaking and the publisher is rolling out another new solution.

The latest Dota 2 update implemented a new way to queue for ranked games in the form of Fast Queue. The new system serves to speed up the ranked matchmaking experience, which has been mired of late by brutally long queue times.

“We know that queue times have increased across the board recently, and the most significant factor contributing to this has been the stricter requirements that Ranked Roles imposes on the formation of matches…To address role imbalance more generally, today’s update introduces Fast Queue for Ranked matchmaking,” Valve said on the official Dota 2 blog.

Fast Queue players are prioritized by the matchmaker, allowing them to enjoy shorter matchmaking times. Players are automatically enrolled in Fast Queue if they select every role for ranked matchmaking, and can earn credits towards future Fast Queue games with their preferred role.

When implemented at scale, this should speed up queue times in ranked matchmaking.

Dota 2 players face long queue times after matchmaking update

Anyone that follows professional Dota 2 players has seen them gripe about matchmaking times at one point or another, but that has been impossible to ignore of late. The implementation of role queue in ranked matchmaking, which puts teams together based on players’ preferred roles, slowed things down for the sake of creating higher quality game experiences.

However, the recent nosedive in Dota 2’s player count has greatly slowed matchmaking down. This is particularly troublesome for pro players, who struggled to find games quickly even before restrictions were applied.

That has players at all levels calling for an end to role queue. Though a number of popular multiplayer titles have role-specific matchmaking, most notably including competing MOBA League of Legends, Valve hasn’t been able to elegantly execute this in Dota 2.

Many are calling for role queueing to be nixed entirely because of this, but Valve seems committed to it. The larger question is how Valve can lure back in the hundreds of thousands of players that have moved away from Dota 2 throughout 2019.