The 2015 Ladder Season 4 has come to an end, and the ladders are now locked in order to determine final placements for the season.

Here’s what this means for you:

• During the season lock, you can’t be promoted or demoted from your current league or division, and your bonus pool stops growing.
• Though you are now locked to a league and division, you'll still be able to play out your remaining bonus pool and compete for standing within your division until the end of the season.

The hidden ratings used to determine promotions and demotions will continue to be used for matchmaking purposes, and will continue to update even though the season has been locked. So if you play significantly better or worse than your assigned league, you may find yourself in a different league when 2016 Season 1 begins (after you play your first placement match). Your games during the lock still count.

The first season of 2016 ladder competition will begin on Monday, February 1. Season milestone rewards will be locked in at this time, and bonus pools will reset. The game will continue doing matchmaking and league placement using results from the previous season.

Around the time of the season roll, we will also be applying a free character name change to all accounts that do not have one available at that time. Character name changes do not stack (you can only have one free name change at a time), so if you’ve been thinking about changing your name in StarCraft II, you will want to do that as soon as possible.

To learn more about this year’s ladder season and related subjects, check out the Multiplayer and eSports discussion forum, and our League, Ladders, and Seasons FAQ.