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Designer Josh Menke shares best practices in modern ranking systems in this two-day GDC Masterclass.

Game Developer, Staff

October 28, 2021

2 Min Read

Players expect high-quality matchmaking and ranking in competitive multiplayer games, and this GDC Masterclass is all about helping designers master this crucial part of PvP gaming.

Engagement Using Matchmaking and Ranking in Competitive Multiplayer Games is a two-day virtual course from Riot Games' principal designer Josh Menke—who's spent almost two decades designing skill, matchmaking, and ranking systems for games like League of Legends: Wild Rift, Halo, and Call of Duty.

In this workshop, attendees will learn how to engage players with matchmaking—a process that requires correctly balancing a player's perception of playability, fairness, latency, wait time, and other variables for each activity a game provides. Using state-of-the-art matchmaking and skill systems like TrueSkill 2 and TrueMatch, Josh helps attendees accurately find a player's skill, best practices for ranking players, and much more.

This GDC Masterclass runs on December 9 and December 10 from 9:00am to 1:00pm PT (12:00pm to 4:00pm ET). Please note that it's being held virtually on both days, not in person.

The following key elements will be covered in this class:

• How to engage players using matchmaking and ranking systems
• How to maintain a positive player perception of fairness in both matchmaking and ranking
• How to use data to balance the use of skill, latency, and wait time in matchmaking
• Best practices in modern ranking systems
• How to tune a ranking system to balance accuracy against a sense of progression
• How to tune the way a player’s rank updates at the end of a match to balance accuracy and a player’s perception of fairness

Seats are limited and will fill up soon! Register now to claim your spot in Josh's course. And be sure to visit the GDC Masterclass website for more exciting courses.

For more information on GDC Masterclass, be sure to visit our website or subscribe to regular updates via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or RSS.

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