There’s always been plenty of cheaters in Blizzard games, whether it’s been Diablo or World of Warcraft, it’s always been an issue. Overwatch is no exception and cheating was a problem in the beta.
Blizzard has already made some changes to the game based on reports submitted during the beta test and players who were caught have been banned. Blizzard has now issued a formal statement regarding cheating in Overwatch.
“We’ve always taken cheating in Blizzard games very seriously, and that stance is no different for Overwatch. “Play nice; play fair” is one of our core values as a company, and it’s something we’ve taken to heart not only when designing the game, but also as we’ve developed our plans to support it and our players after launch.
“What does this mean for Overwatch? If a player is found to be cheating—or using hacks, bots, or third-party software that provides any sort of unfair advantage—that player will be permanently banned from the game. Full stop. Not only does cheating undermine the spirit of fair play that all of our products are based on, but it works to diminish the fun and enjoyment of others. While we are unlikely to publicly acknowledge when accounts are closed as a result of cheating or using unauthorized programs, we have and will continue to monitor Overwatch for exploitative behavior, as well as take action as needed to preserve the integrity of game.”
Blizzard is encouraging players to report cheaters via [email protected] but they are adding an in-game option to report players soon. It’s important players do this.
Whether any action is taken quickly is another matter. Blizzard can take some time to ban players, Diablo 3 is a great example where botting was going on for months with no action being taken.
