Overwatch 2: Can't Play Ranked With Friend

If you asked someone what the best thing was about playing Overwatch 2, most of them would say playing with their friends. Now, while there are some who prefer playing the game in a chill manner, others would rather try hard alongside their buddies in some good old ranked (or competitive). However, what do you do if the game just doesn't let you play ranked with your friends?

If you aren't able to play Overwatch 2 ranked with your friends then there can be a couple of potential reasons. For starters, it's possible that the difference in your ranks might be too much. Additionally, both of you might be unranked in which case it might be a good idea to play all your placements first. Finally, ensure that neither you nor your friend has any issues with your accounts.

We'll be going through everything you need to know about what to do if you find yourself not able to play Overwatch 2 ranked with your friend.

Ensure There Isn't a Big Difference in Skill Rating

One of the most important things about any FPS game is that the competitive or ranked mode has to be fair. If there's no fairness then it's natural that players won't want to play the game, right? This is why Blizzard has made it so you need to be close to the rank of everyone else in your competitive group if you want to play with them.

To be more specific, there has to be less than a 1000 skill rating difference between you and your friend. This means that neither you nor your friend can be over a 1000 skill rating higher than the other. If you find that there indeed is such a gap in skill rating then it might be a good idea for the player who's at the lower rank to try and catch up.

Of course, to ensure this is done as fast as possible, we highly recommend you hire a professional Overwatch 2 booster from Eloking to do this for you. After all, why put in so much effort to rank up if you'll have to do it alone? If you do go at it alone then make sure you save all your cool highlights to show them off to your friend later.

Have Both Players Play Placement Matches

Ever Since Overwatch 2 first launched, it has been full of annoying bugs and other issues. One bug is that players aren't able to play with each other even if they're both unranked and haven't even played their placement matches. Although this makes sense for players who have a major gap in skill, this also happens for complete newbies sometimes.

Therefore, if you aren't able to play Overwatch 2 competitive with your friend and either one of you is unranked, then play your placement matches before doing anything else. Chances are you'll either be placed in completely different ranks and won't be able to play together or near the same rank in which case you two can play to your heart's content.

One very important thing to keep in mind is that if only one of you had played Overwatch 1 before and it's the first time both of you are playing Overwatch 2 competitive, then the Overwatch 1 veteran will almost certainly have a higher skill rating.

Have Someone Else Invite You Two

If you and your friend aren't able to play with each other then it might have something to do with there just being you two in the group. This might sound a little weird, but Overwatch 2 has several bugs and not all of them make sense.

To get around this issue, simply have someone else invite you two to their group. If the matter still doesn't get fixed then have the other player start a custom game and then join their group while the custom game is going on. Of course, one player will have to spectate the custom game, but after it there's a chance that you three will be able to play competitive together.

To ensure the custom game goes by quickly, just have the third player play one of the best 1v1 arena games.

Ensure the Other Player Has Unlocked Competitive

 

A bit of a silly mistake some players might make is attempting to play competitively with a friend who hasn't even unlocked competitive play yet. To be more specific, there are two ways players are able to unlock ranked in Overwatch 2:

• Either by playing 50 quick play matches
• Or being an Overwatch 1 veteran player

If even one of the two players attempting to play together hasn't met at least one of these conditions, then ensure they do so before trying to play competitive together.

Make Sure There Aren't Any Account Related Problems

The last thing you can do if you aren't able to play competitive Overwatch 2 with your friend then check to see if either you or your friend has any issues related to their account. To be more specific, neither of you two should be banned from playing comp or Overwatch 2 in general.

One very easy way of making sure this isn't the case is simply queueing in comp without joining any other group. If one player ends up being banned, then luckily we know how to get unbanned in Overwatch 2. If it works then you don't have any issue with your account and should probably contact Blizzard support to get the matter sorted.