The long-awaited debut of competitive matchmaking has finally arrived as the first details were publicly revealed tonight by top player b4nny, who worked with Valve in early alpha tests.

To begin, it has been stressed that the current stages of beta are more focused on creating a stable and functional technical implementation, with gameplay settings subject to change. As a result, the beta settings, which will be 6v6 with no class limits and item whitelists, may not be representative of the final product. In general, Valve will be focusing on 6v6, with Highlander being more difficult to implement due to logistical complexity. As far as rankings go, players in matchmaking will have only one rank that reflects their performance across all games, regardless of class or loadout played.

It has been confirmed that Valve will move toward requiring DirectX 9 usage for competitive play, similar to their requirements for playing campaigns, in order to promote parity among players and focus on modernizing the game. Valve will also restrict certain settings for stability and standardization purposes. However, Valve also recognizes the demand for customization and will still allow customization options wherever possible (such as custom HUDs) and will also look to integrate certain popular options (such as transparent viewmodels). Matchmaking will only include standard versions of included maps (as opposed to pro versions used in leagues), though Valve is open to modifying existing maps or adding popular competitive maps.

Several leading members of the community have been granted access to test the early beta system (and will play it in the first publicly viewable beta tests tonight). This list of people includes community representatives who attended a meeting with Valve in April about the competitive scene and players from the top Invite teams Ascent, Team SoloUber, and froyotech. The matchmaking beta will be expanded in the future when ready.