Overwatch now has more severe penalties for poor in-game behavior

Blizzard is stepping up its efforts to stamp out toxicity in Overwatch, with a new, more aggressive approach to issuing penalties starting today. While the company stopped short of detailing how the new approach will work, the message is clear that bad behavior will be punished more severely.

"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," the statement reads.

"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."

Increased penalties seems to suggest that the penalties will mostly be the same, except longer or more prompt. Whatever the case, the studio is continuing to tweak its approach to discipline in the game, and promises in the next few months to include "scaling competitive season bans" and punishments for those who abuse the game's in-game reporting tool.

The full statement can be read over here.

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.