Those of you with a penchant for StarCraft II multiplayer may be interested to find that we'll be making a few changes to player distribution among the lower leagues in Heart of the Swarm. Throughout the Wings of Liberty era, you may have become familiar with league percentages that looked like this:

While it appears to display an equal distribution of skill level across the board, we found that the current system brought about scenarios in which Bronze encompassed a skill range that was too broad to be meaningful, while Gold was too narrow. As a result, the lowest ranked players in Bronze often tended to be far removed from the skill level of those at the top, or even the middle of the league. As such, we're going to alter the population percentages for Bronze, Silver, and Gold leagues in order to equalize these skill gaps, and help each feel more meaningful.

The following changes to the league percentage system will take effect immediately once Heart of the Swarm launches on March 12:

By trimming Bronze league down to 8%, we're hoping to establish it as a space for newer players who are still exploring the game's ins and outs. Following this change, Bronze players who begin to steadily improve should find it much easier to be promoted into Silver, which we feel should be an area for those who are starting to develop a foundation of understanding for the game. Additionally, we're expanding Gold to represent 32% of our players in order to satisfy our goals for making the league more inclusive, as well as help it better represent the range of skill that players expect it should. Finally, it is important to note that Platinum through Grand Master will be unaffected by these changes, and will retain their league percentages established in Wings of Liberty.

We're looking forward to watching how these league percentage changes will alter the landscape of ranked play, and hope they will make for a more satisfying ladder experience. Feel free to provide your thoughts in the comments section below, and don't forget to play through your placement matches on launch day! As always, good luck and have fun.