Serious punishments are coming for players who don’t play fair in Overwatch’s Competitive Play.
Beginning on Sept. 27, any player that racks up three or more seasonal bans could get permanently banned from Overwatch’s Competitive Play. That means that permanently banned players will never get to play ranked Overwatch again.
“Seasonal bans do not need to be consecutive to qualify for a permanent Competitive Play ban,” Overwatch community manager Josh Engen said on the Blizzard forum. “For example, if a player earned seasonal bans in seasons two and four, and then earns another ban in season seven, he or she will be eligible for a permanent ban from Competitive Play as soon as that third seasonal ban is issued.”
Related: More than 480,000 Overwatch accounts have been punished by Blizzard
Once an account has been issued a permanent ban it can’t return to good standing, Engen added.
Competitive Play bans happen for a few reasons, but one common reason is player inactivity or disconnection. If a player leaves a Competitive Play match early for any reason, players are subject to punishments that ramp up over time. One disconnect might not get punished. But if it happens again, the player will likely receive a timed ban. Playing matches without incurring more penalties returns the player in question to good standing, however.
Repeated violations can eventually result in a seasonal ban from Competitive Play.
Likewise, players can earn seasonal bans for toxic behavior, cheating, and trolling. Earlier in September, Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan spoke about in-game toxicity, noting that more than 480,000 Overwatch accounts have been punished since the game’s launch in 2016. Kaplan also mentioned that there will never be a separate queue for toxic Overwatch players.
Blizzard simply doesn’t want those players to play the game—so eventually they will just get banned for good.
