Riot Games Reveals Plans For VALORANT 5-Player Queues
The bane of any player's life whilst grinding through a ranked playlist is being paired with teammates that appear to be playing blindfolded. Over in VALORANT, the ranked matchmaking often leaves a Jett dropping a 30-bomb whilst a friendly Omen has met death on every round without picking up a kill.
Since January, Riot Games made it impossible to queue with more than two players, in a bid to prevent players being boosted to undeserved ranks and the playlist being dominated by full teams. Whilst the method means that you're not able to get slapped by a full 100 Thieves roster, it also means that players cannot enjoy ranked with friends and may be stuck with a player whose skills aren't up to scratch.
Many of the professional community have voiced their opinions on the ranked playlist, including Sentinels' Tyson "TenZ" Ngo and James "hazed" Cobb of Team SoloMid. Taking to Twitter, the pair called for a change to the playlist with many players too shy to communicate with strangers.
In response, Riot Games Senior Competitive Designer, Jon "EvrMoar" Walker said "We are currently looking into ways 5 stacks can play together competitively", which may solve the problem.
Whilst admitting that "this isn't exactly what TenZ was asking about but I think it will help this space a bit", Walker's response clearly indicates that Riot are looking to find space for more team collaborations in ranked.
it remains unclear as to whether the developers are looking to implement this as a separate queue or to be alongside the normal playlist, both of which come with pros and cons.
Arnar Hrafn Gylfason, Director of Product Management at Riot Games, also added "read, absorbed and hopeful we have something in the works that help" in response to TenZ's Twitter thread, adding fuel to the fire that the developers are cooking up a solution that we'll all be happy with.
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Image via Riot Games