Blizzard Entertainment has had a number of issues with Overwatch’s Competitive Play, not the least of which includes leavers. These are players who quit mid-match, leaving the rest of their team disadvantaged. While this could be attributed to network issues, oftentimes players will simply leave out of frustration or bitterness.
Players have posed several solutions to deal with this over the past year. One suggestion includes marking leavers with red icons, thus allowing them to be matched with other leaves a la Street Fighter 5. Director Jeff Kaplan appreciated the same and offered his take on the matter.
“Our philosophy has been that we would rather not have leavers playing the game at all (especially in Competitive Play). We keep increasing the penalty for leaving and will continue to do so. We’re in the process of implementing a new policy which would take into account how many Competitive Seasons you have been banned from and at a certain point, prevent you from playing Competitive ever again.”
When such a system will be implemented hasn’t been confirmed but it can’t be long now. What are your thoughts on leaver in competitive Overwatch? Let us know in the comments.
