Will FACEIT matchmaking still work in CS2?

William Davis Published 12/08/2023

CS2 is almost here but will it actually kill FACEIT as some players suspect? The matchmaker itself disagrees.

FACEIT players have already been burned by the CS2 limited beta test prioritizing Valve matchmaking fans, and the reveal of subtick servers looks even grimmer. However, fans who plan to stick with the advantages of the third-party matchmaker actually have some good news to look forward to.

Luckily for curious players, the matchmaker has already confirmed its plans for the Source 2 upgrade. FACEIT will continue to offer matchmaking services for CS2 and the new launch will come with updated features to help celebrate the release.

The plan was outlined in a formal blog post in early August 2023 where the FACEIT team discussed the imminent release of the game. In fact, FACEIT has already confirmed a special surprise for players at the highest and lowest end of the skill spectrum.

FACEIT to offer ELO recalibration for Level 1 and 10

In addition to keeping matchmaking services alive for CS2, FACEIT will also offer ELO recalibration to help mark the start of the new era.

While details are still scarce, the recalibration is meant to help players on the extreme ends of FACEIT’s skill rating. Players at Levels 1 and 10 will get the chance to “fix” their ELO in a series of placement matches. This is meant to improve the user experience by creating an even ELO spread in both ranks. The gap between pro player ELOs, for example, will be shortened to promote competition. This is good news for everyone except Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov.

It’s not clear if players in the middle ranks will get a chance to recalibrate, but the blog post confirmed that their current ELO rating for CSGO will indeed carry over to the new game.

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