What happens if you cheat in Blizzard Entertainment’s upcoming multiplayer shooter Overwatch? Well, you get banned. No first strikes either – it’s a permanent ban and that’s that.
In a new forum post, Blizzard noted that, “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.”
It won’t be reporting when players’ accounts are closed as a result of illegal behaviour but Blizzard says “we have and will continue to monitor Overwatch for exploitative behavior, as well as take action as needed to preserve the integrity of game.”
Creating this kind of environment isn’t anything new for the company but these measures are “important and serve as a reminder of our commitment to delivering epic gameplay experiences. For us, it’s not just about creating awesome games, but about supporting those games and their communities for years to come.” It also noted that you can report players who are cheating from directly within the game client.
Overwatch is out on May 24th for Xbox One, PS4 and PC. Let us know what you think of Blizzard’s anti-cheating policies in the comments.