Blizzard said that players who cheat or talk badly in Overwatch 2 would be punished with its new Defense Matrix Initiative. This system will watch the voice chat and punish players who hang out with known cheaters and hackers. It’s important to note that Blizzard has already banned more than 50,000 Overwatch 2 accounts for cheating since the game came out. This number is even higher if we count those who play with cheaters.
Kotaku says this is a difficult way to stop cheaters in Overwatch 2, but it’s somewhat necessary. Blizzard wants to eliminate any reason to cheat, including people who hang out with cheaters and hackers. Starting with Season 3, Blizzard will begin to find players who knowingly team up with people who have been flagged for cheating. Both the cheaters and their accomplices will have account actions taken against them, even if the accomplices aren’t actually using cheats to win games.
The gaming community should agree with Blizzard’s choice, since even one team cheater can change how a game goes. Accounts that have been reported for cheating, at least in Overwatch 2, are usually looked into. If cheating was found, Blizzard immediately bans the account for good, without asking any more questions or listening to any pleas or requests. But this lets teams work together so that one cheater wins the whole game, and the rest of the players get credit and move forward by working with the cheater.
Since they aren’t technically cheating, they aren’t being punished, even though they are using dishonest ways to advance. Now, though, those days are over. Blizzard said it would go after both the cheaters and their helpers, but since the helpers didn’t do the cheating themselves, they won’t be punished as harshly.
At best, we’re looking at harsh suspensions for long periods. However, repeat offenders, or people who keep hanging out with known cheaters, will eventually have their accounts banned.
And while Activision continues to deal with cheaters in Call of Duty in its way by making them blind or making them drop their weapons, Blizzard decided to put Overwatch 2 in full surveillance mode. During Season 2, the new Defense Matrix Initiative system was tested, which is very good at finding cheating and verbal abuse during games. Blizzard says that cheaters in games will be banned or silenced if they are found out.
Adding more moderation to Overwatch 2 doesn’t stop with banning cheaters and their friends. It includes custom games with any inappropriate content, as well as attempts to “snipe” streams. For those who don’t know what it is, stream sniping is when someone in the streamer’s audience tries to find and queue into the same game, either to mess up the game or get an unfair advantage.
