Dead by Daylight launches new matchmaking system test

Dead by Daylight's matchmaking system has been a point of hot debate among fans since the change from ranks to skill-based matchmaking in September 2021. While some people feel skill-based matchmaking has contributed to fairer matches, others have pointed out that the switch has regularly placed them against teammates that are far above or below their skill level. 

Behaviour has responded to the community's concerns about matchmaking and is conducting tests to determine which changes could benefit the game. Here is everything both killers and survivors need to know about Dead by Daylight's ongoing matchmaking tests and how to participate. 

Dead by Daylight Matchmaking System Changes

From the time of its release in 2015 to mid-2021, Dead by Daylight used a ranking system, with players ranking up when they received enough points and de-ranking when they failed to do well enough to rank.

After regular community complaints on the Dead by Daylight forums, Reddit, and Twitter about queue times and unfair matches, though, Behaviour decided to implement skill-based matchmaking in September 2021. This was just months after the iconic Resident Evil chapter was released, bringing in an influx of new players.

Dead by Daylight's skill-based matchmaking ranks are determined by users' kill rates as Killer and escape rates as Survivor. Matchmaking ranks are not visible to the player, and players cannot see one another's matchmaking ranks. 

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The community wasn't happy about these changes, with complaints about unfair matches in the community only becoming more common. On 25th March 2022, Behaviour announced they would be conducting a series of matchmaking tests to determine the community's opinion on different types of skill-based matchmaking.

"Our goal is to find a nice balance between queue times and fairness that everyone can be happy with," said Dead by Daylight community manager Peanits. 

Dead by Daylight Matchmaking Test Dates, Times and Info

Dead by Daylight's matchmaking tests will take place on the following dates: 

• 28th March 2022
• 29th March 2022
• 30th March 2022
• 31st March 2022
• 4th April 2022
• 7th April 2022

Each test begins at 11 am EDT and ends 24 hours later. 

All matchmaking tests will be live on all platforms (Steam, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S) save for mobile.

Behaviour will not announce exactly what the tests will change or what will be changing each day, in order to reduce users' bias.

"One day may favour faster queues over match quality, while another may prioritize finding the most even opponent(s) possible," Peanits explained.

Users who participate in the matchmaking tests can post on the official Dead by Daylight forums to let Behaviour know about their experience each day.

For more information and updates about Dead by Daylight, as well as guides for other horror games, check out our Horror category.

Featured image courtesy of Behaviour.