Riot Games is currently deliberating the reintroduction of duo queuing for high-tier players in League of Legends (LoL).  A pivotal decision made a couple of years ago aimed at ensuring fairness and expediting matchmaking, removed the ability for top-ranked players to queue together. However, 2024 might witness a reversal of this policy.

In a recent Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on the League subreddit, design director August “Iksar” Dean Ayala disclosed that the developers are actively considering the option to reinstate duo queue for Masters rank players and those in Diamond and below. Despite this inclination, the decision-making process faces a hurdle owing to divergent opinions across global regions.

Iksar highlighted the ongoing consultations with regions that possess distinct perspectives on the matter. Riot Games remains open to tailoring ranked queue rules for each region individually to accommodate varying sentiments.

The prospect of duo queuing at higher elos has triggered debates among the gaming community, with compelling arguments emerging from professional players, solo queue enthusiasts, and analysts alike. Critics argue that enabling duo queue at elevated ranks heightens the difficulty for solo players, deprived of the advantage of seamless communication and synergy with a teammate.

Conversely, proponents contend that high-level duo queuing adds excitement to the climb and serves as valuable practice for professional players collaborating with teammates. In 2021, Riot acknowledged the initial allowance of duos in Challenger in 2018, influenced significantly by the pro scene. Despite this, the decision to eliminate the system in 2021 was motivated by the desire to prevent duoing from becoming an obligatory route for success in solo/duo queue's upper echelons.

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Jonathan “RiotIAmWalrus” Moormann articulated this perspective in a 2021 interview with Dot Esports, stating, “We don’t want duoing to become mandatory for players who wish to succeed in solo/duo queue’s highest ranks, so we felt we had to remove it for the betterment of the entire ranked ecosystem.”