How to Unlock Competitive Play in Overwatch? Competitive Play Challenge Explained

Credit:- Blizzard Entertainment

If you’re a new player looking to test your skills in Overwatch 2‘s Ranked mode, hold up, you can’t simply jump in right away. Blizzard gatekeeps the competitive playlist behind a specific objective, the Competitive Play Qualification challenge.

However, recent updates to the First-Time User Experience (FTUE) have drastically reduced this grind. What used to be 50 wins in Quick Play is now only 20 wins. This has made it easier than ever to jump into Ranked play.

How to Complete or Bypass the Overwatch 2 Competitive Play Challenge

Brand-new accounts must complete the Competitive Play Challenge to get access to Ranked games. This requires them to win 20 Unranked matches. While it’s a massive drop from the original 50, keep in mind its victories, not just the 20 matches played.

Alongside this change to 20 wins, the FTUE has received another major benefit that will help new players. Players will have access to the original heroes of Overwatch 2 from the start while they complete their FTUE.

Keep in mind that veteran players are entirely exempt from this challenge. If you owned the original Overwatch before June 2021, you are fully grandfathered in. This grants you permanent and immediate access to Ranked play without the need for any Unranked wins.

For new players, looking ahead at the grind of 20 wins, you can try your hand at the Stadium mode. A win in this mode will be counted as 2 Unranked wins. Stadium Quick Play is a Best-of-5 format with accelerated economy. Note that Stadium Competitive originally launched as Best-of-7 but was also changed to Best-of-5 in Season 19. Hence, it is often the fastest way to clear the unlock requirement.

How to Track Progress and Start Your Placement Matches

Real challenge in Overwatch 2 is the Ranked matches | Credit: Blizzard Entertainment

If you’re mixing in Stadium mode matches and normal Quick Play games, it could be difficult to track your wins. However, to navigate to the main menu, open the Challenges tab, and click on the Competitive section.

Here, you can locate the Competitive Play Qualification tracker. It will tell you exactly how many Unranked wins you have secured and how many are left.

Keep in mind that unlocking the mode itself doesn’t immediately grant you a rank. Instead, you will have to complete 10 placement matches. Also, these 10 placement matches are separate for each playlist.

So, if you play Role Queue, you must do 10 placements per role. After which, you will receive a specific rank ranging from Bronze to Top 500 for that specific class.

What are your thoughts on the reduction from 50 wins to 20 wins, introduced in Season 18, for new players in Overwatch 2? Let us know in the comments.