Blizzard is preparing to take an extreme stance against people caught cheating in Overwatch. The developer announced that it would be issuing permanent bans to cheaters; no warnings, no three strikes policy, no restricted matchmaking.

According to Blizzard, using cheats that provide an unfair advantage undermines the spirit of fair play, and diminishes the fun and enjoyment for others. Issuing permanent bans is how the company intends to preserve the integrity of the game.

Players who believe others are cheating are asked to report the behaviour; either by email or through the game client itself. Blizzard’s team of analysts will then examine the claim and determine if the individual was really cheating to begin with. According to the announcement post, the team has already removed several players caught cheating during the beta test period.

That being said, Blizzard has also provided some guidelines for people to consider before reporting their peers. Most of these concern potential bugs encountered during gameplay or with the killcam. However, Blizzard also points out that some people are just really, really good at first person shooters; and that it may occasionally feel like they are cheating when the reality is simply a massive gulf in skill.


Interestingly, Blizzard has already baked an aimbot into the Overwatch for those who are still learning the game. The character Soldier 76 has an auto-targeting ability which allows the player to simply shoot without aiming. Admittedly, the power needs to be charged and cannot be used all the time.

[Source: Battle.net]