What is losers queue in Valorant, and is it real? Devs answer

Fariha Bhatti Published 25/07/2022

Do you ever feel like Valorant is forcing you to queue with other unfortunate players? Riot devs claim that it’s not the case and that the supposed losers queue is nothing more than fantasy.

Riot Games has tried time and again to establish transparency with its players. Regular blogs are the developer’s primary source of communicating procedures and plans to the community. Still, players have plenty of theories that are deeply rooted in their own personal experiences. For example, the community has established that Riot could be forcing losing players into a separate queue.

During a stream, Michael “shroud” Grzesiek touched on the “losers queue,” going viral in the Valorant community. The clip also reached Valorant’s senior competitive designer EvrMoar, who refuted the existence of any such system.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJ-wT_0Yyy4

Is the losers queue real in Valorant?

It may feel like Riot is purposefully setting you up with those who’ve lost their recent games, but that’s not really the case. Losers queue is not real and is just a community-made concept with no truth to it, according to Riot devs.

Players believe that the system in Valorant intentionally places losers in the same team to net more playing time. For example, if you’ve lost your past few games, you’d be queued with players who are equally frustrated from a losing streak. This causes players to throw more games out of stress, urging them to keep queuing until they finally win one. This cycle results in extra playtime, which players think is Riot’s intention.

EvrMoar has clarified that matchmaking occurs based solely on Valorant player MMR, scratching the concept of losers queue. In a thread, the developer explained that there’s no such thing as a losers queue in Valorant, as it wouldn’t be good for the game’s growth.

https://twitter.com/RiotEvrMoar/status/1550606638133829632

“It’s (MM system) very straightforward and just tries to find two teams that provide a 50:50 chance of either team winning and pitting them against each other. Research shows fair matchmaking keeps players, not unfair manipulated matchmaking,” EvrMoar said.

MMR is at the center of the Valorant matchmaking process. The ladder ensures that when you are put in a match, it’s a fair match that provides a 50:50 chance of winning. The developer explained that MMR is a sensitive system that can’t be so meddled with. Once you manipulate MMR for a particular outcome, you can no longer rely on it to put people into “specific types” of matchmaking.

For all of these reasons, Riot doesn’t interfere with the default system that ensures everyone has a shot at winning. So next time you feel like your teammates are losers, you may want to blame your declining MMR and not the game or its matchmaking.

Fariha Bhatti

About Fariha Bhatti

Fariha Bhatti is a long-time gaming writer who loves competitive FPS games and slots with particularly fun themes. She got her start playing classic games developed by SNK, from legendary fighting game series The King of Fighters to challenging platform franchise Metal Slug. She now spends most of her time playing Valorant and Counter-Strike 2 while working her way through new slot releases to find her next favorite. Fariha has been published at PCGamesN, TalkEsport and ONE Esports.

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