Blizzard is cleaning house in its servers.
The company reportedly banned over 1,500 Overwatch accounts following the detection of a hack called Xion, according to anti-cheat group Overwatch Police Department.
Xion offered aimbots for hitscan and projectile heroes, extra-sensory perception (ESP) cheats such as seeing enemy outlines, and auto dashes with Genji. It also provided an automatic counter to Sombra’s ultimate for characters such as Zenyatta and Doomfist. The tool would activate the heroes’ ultimates to negate Sombra’s EMP. Using the hack cost $155 per month, with different pricing options for shorter periods. Discord servers for the tool gathered over 1,600 users, according to the Overwatch Police Department.
Xion isn’t the first hack detected by Blizzard this week. A few days ago, the company banned over 200 hackers who used a tool called “Pentagon.” Like Xion, it offered aimbots, ESP functionalities, and automatic ultimate blocking. It also charged a monthly fee of $155 to use.
The Overwatch Police Department played a role in both detections. The P.D. is an organized group of players devoted to stopping hacking in Overwatch. It’s composed of a series of dedicated virtual detectives who investigate suspected offenders and is spearheaded by Mohamed “Gamerdoc” Al-Sharifi.
The P.D. said they’d “sent an airstrike” at Xion headquarters, which likely means that they pointed Blizzard in the hackers’ direction.
“Blizzard is aware of what I am doing,” Gamerdoc said in an interview. “I think they like what I am doing so long as it’s not a witch hunt.”
The existence of hackers in the Overwatch community gained more prominence after streamer Brian “Kephrii” St. Pierre accused other members of the pro circuit of cheating following the Breaking Barriers tournament held last week. His comments, although controversial, sparked a debate on hacking.
Dot Esports has reached out to Blizzard for comments.
