How To Unlock Competitive Play In Overwatch 2

Overwatch 2 launched on 4th October 2022, after almost three years since it was announced in November 2019. With its debut, the game’s brought forth various new characters, maps, and modes. Because of these fresh features, players have been testing out all Overwatch 2 entails, including the game’s competitive matchmaking.

But for newcomers, unlocking the Competitive mode might not be the most straightforward endeavor. This guide details everything you need to know about competitive matchmaking, including how to unlock the game mode and climb the ranked leaderboards.

How to Unlock Competitive Mode in Overwatch 2

Firstly, anyone who’s played the first Overwatch and managed to play the Competitive mode will receive immediate access to ranked matchmaking upon playing Overwatch 2.

However, unlike returning players, newcomers will have to grind Quick Play matches and play through a new system introducing them to characters and gameplay features to access competitive matchmaking.

Newer players must complete the First Time User Experience (FTUE), which is a quest-focused system introducing players to all of Overwatch 2’s Heroes, maps, and modes. Completing FTUE will take some time, but after players have glided through the experience, they’ll be one step closer to unlocking competitive matchmaking.

How Many Wins Do You Need for Overwatch 2 Competitive

The other step is simply playing Quick Play matches. Newcomers will need to play through fifty Quick Play matches to access ranked matchmaking after completing FTUE.

Grinding these matches will help the system navigate players’ skill levels and general experience and appropriately give them a suitable rank after meeting the requirements to acquire one.

What About Returning Players

Returning players will immediately unlock the Competitive mode, they’ll still need to play a few games to obtain a rank. It will take either seven wins in ranked matchmaking to secure a rank or twenty losses for returning players.

Do note that the provided rank for returning players will be somewhat close to their previous placements in the first game.

There are eight ranks in total, all ranging from Bronze to Top 500. Here are them below.

In addition, there are three categories ranks can fall under. Those categories are DPS, Support, and Tank. It's worth noting players planning on progressively ranking up Support or Tank ranks must choose their roles upon queuing into competitive matchmaking, or it won't be counted toward the respective rank category.

And that's all there is to it; for more information about other Overwatch 2-related content, guides, news, and more, visit our dedicated section.