Trust Factor matchmaking replaces Prime
The new Trust Factor matchmaking has the primary purpose to match together players that respect the rules and are positive members of the Steam community.
In April 2016, Valve launched Prime Matchmaking in an attempt to improve the gaming experience. Prime added a new MM queue with a requirement: players had to link an unique phone number to their account. Afterwards, the system also demanded a minimum rank of 21 to be qualified for Prime.
It isn’t a secret that CS:GO is infested by hackers, trolls, and more. Innocent users encountered less “problematic” players in Prime, but the system is not perfect: you can still find lots of hackers in your daily games.
The Trust Factor
Today, Valve substituted Prime with a new matchmaking based on the new Trust Factor.
Note that during this first test period all players can choose to queue using the old system.
It considers different factors that influenced your account over time, such as the amount of time invested playing CS:GO, the time spent playing other games on Steam, the reports received for griefing, cheating, etc.
In short, people that act properly should be matched together, while the others will find teammates that are as toxic as them.
“The results of the experiment have been positive. In matches created using Trust Factor, most players ended up generating fewer reports regardless of their Prime status.”
Trust Factor F.A.Q.
Below, a summary of the F.A.Q. You can find the complete questions and answers on the CS:GO blog.
Valve won’t release the list of factors influencing the new matchmaking. The Trust Factor will be updated over time, so a list would become out of date quickly. Furthermore, they don’t want players to worry about any particular action (or exploiting them).
To improve your Trust Factor you simply have to become a better member of the community. Skill group will of course influence the matchmaking, but your behavior and the activity on your account are probably the main deal.
You won’t be able to look at your personal Trust Factor.
Prime Status will help improving the Trust Factor. If you still don’t have a phone number linked to your account, you should add it as soon as possible.
New players won’t necessarily have a low Trust Factor. The system takes in consideration your entire history in the Steam community, so you could start CS:GO even with a high trust.
If you suspect that you aren’t in the right matchmaking bracket, send an email to CSGOTeamFeedback@valvesoftware.com with the subject “Trust Factor Feedback” and include a description of your experience and your Steam ID. The reports will help improving the system.
Source and header image: Valve
