To make you feel better about yourself.
Competitive Overwatch is a difficult beast, especially when you don't perform in your placement matches. But even when you do perform, sometimes you'll be ranked far lower than expected.
In an interview with Kotaku, designer Scott Mercer has clarified some of the more ambiguous aspects of the system. The Overwatch rankings take into account your ratings from previous seasons, and despite some players complaining and hoping for a full reset each season, it's not going to happen according to Mercer.
"Psychologically, a lot of people want a fresh start... The other thing we're trying to do is find as fair matches as possible. On the other hand, if we rolled over last season to the next one, it wouldn't feel like enough of a start."
Between seasons, the game automatically reduces skill ratings by around 200 points too. Your skill rating increases by more each time during the first 40-50 matches though, until you've reached your actual level again. Mercer explained that it works that way to give players the sense that they're improving over time, even if you actually aren't.
Do you think this is fair? Has your world just come crashing down because you're not improving as much as you thought? Let us know in the comments.