Blizzard Will Not Tolerate Bad Behavior In Overwatch

overwatch winston angryWhether you’re playing a MOBA, an FPS, a survival game, or any type of game for that matter, there’s no shortage of toxic players who just have to ruin the fun for everyone. Overwatch players will be happy to know that Blizzard Entertainment is implementing stricter measures to keep toxic players in check, which, the studio says, is in accordance with their “Play Nice; Play Fair” core values.

“We believe that our in-game reporting and player penalty system is one of our most important features, and it’s something we want to invest in significantly over the next year. To this end, effective immediately, we will be issuing increased penalties to players in response to verified reports of bad behavior. In Overwatch, that means anything from abusive chat, harassment, in-game spam, match inactivity (being intentionally AFK), and griefing. If you see someone engaging in any of these types of behaviors, report them. Players in violation will be silenced, suspended, or even banned from the game as a result.”

Aside from increasing penalties, Blizzard also plans to make improvements to Overwatch’s reporting system within the next few months. These include scaling competitive season bans, adding a notification system that informs players when a report is acted upon, and a feature that will help the devs penalize players who abuse the reporting system. The studio is also working on a reporting system for console players and internal testing is well underway.

One place where abusive players will not be tolerated is international tournaments like the 2017 Overwatch World Cup which recently kicked off in Shanghai. Check out the video below for the Shanghai Stage highlights, or you can head over to the Overwatch official forums to learn more about Blizzard’s crack down.

2017 Overwatch World Cup | Shanghai Group Stage Recap