No more Russian when you least expect it.

Thanks to FACEIT’s new regional matchmaking service, CS2 grinders have a much better chance of actually understanding callouts. 

Communication is everything in Counter-Strike 2. No matter how the game changes, there will always be a massive difference between players with microphones and players without. However, a microphone is worse than useless when your teammates don’t speak the same language. The mostly European problem plagues Valve and third-party coordinators alike, but one matchmaker thinks it's found a solution.

FACEIT is now testing a new regional matchmaking system designed to help teams communicate. Here’s how the system works, how to join in, and how the company plans to expand on it in the future.

No more “AVP davai”

The new system works by factoring in players’ physical locations for matchmaking. The official example from FACEIT explains that the EU will be split into three different subregions based on common languages, with English and Russian as the two examples. It’s not clear what the third language is, but it could be either Danish or French. 

FACEIT regional matchmaking is now available (Image via FACEIT)
FACEIT regional matchmaking is now available (Image via FACEIT)

When players queue for matches, the coordinator will attempt to assemble sides where all five players come from roughly the same region. This means that a Polish player will be more likely to play with fellow Poles. Note that the categories aren’t for certain countries, so someone in Spain is still likely to team up with players from Portugal or France. 

Also note that while your team will likely come from the same region, the enemy team could be completely different. Five German players may play against five Danes. Regional matchmaking could give FACEIT a more patriotic edge along with improving communication.

Can you help test FACEIT regional matchmaking for CS2?

All FACEIT players are opted into the regional matchmaking test by default, but not all of your games will actually use the feature.

All FACEIT queues in or near the EU will try to use this new feature by default. There’s no need to opt in or join any sort of beta. However, when wait times get too long, the system will drop the regional filter and just try to get a balanced game as fast as possible. 


Keep checking in to esports.gg for the latest updates on Counter-Strike 2.