What does "MMR" mean in gaming? Explained

What does MMR mean in gaming?

Matchmaking Rating, or ‘MMR’, is an algorithm used to determine a player’s skill level and/or ranking in a competitive game.

In some titles, a player won’t be able to access certain game modes until they’ve played a select number of games and achieved a minimum MMR.

How is MMR determined?

MMR can be determined in a number of ways, with the most common being through a placement system where the player is assigned a rank based on their performance over a handful of matches.

In VALORANT, a player must reach level 20 before they can queue for competitive modes. Once they’re in competitive, they’ll still need to go through five placement games so they can be assigned one of the seven rank tiers available.

Placement games typically occur every time a new ‘split’ (competitive season) starts to make sure players are where they should be — and that they have the chance to progress upwards from their group. The aim of these is to group players with those of a similar skill level to them, leading to a better matchmaking experience for everyone.

If a low-ranked player starts destroying everyone in their path, the game should pick up on this and begin matching them with those of a higher skill level, despite the player’s low rank. This is to combat ‘smurfing’, which is when experienced players intentionally use new or low-level accounts to play against newer opponents.

Can I see my MMR?

Many competitive titles display your MMR in the form of an in-game rank, though some choose to either hide this completely or show a simplified version of your MMR. It all depends on what you’re playing.

What influences my MMR?

Once you’ve been assigned a rank in a game, your MMR will be closely tied to your performance in competitive games going forward. Winning games will boost your MMR and losing them will harm it. Your individual performance plays a role in the system, too. If you won a game and performed well, it will increase more than if you had performed poorly.

Often, games will have some form of MMR decay. This is when inactivity in a game can lead to you losing some, or all, of your ranking. So if you’ve achieved a high rank in one title but haven’t played it in several months, you might find yourself needing to earn it back.