Blizzard Threatens Overwatch Cheaters With Instant Permaban So ‘Play Nice And Play Fair’

There are few things that can ruin an online game quite as fast as a cheater. If a bug is exploited, a cheater can turn an otherwise great game into a downright frustrating one, and it seems this is a point Blizzard understands well. While cheaters are almost expected in any online game, Blizzard is having none of it with Overwatch.

In an official forum post, Blizzard Community Manager Lylirra says, "Play nice; play fair" is one of the company's core values, and it's something that's built into each and every Blizzard title. What does that mean in Overwatch? There's no lenience with cheaters - none.

Lylirra writes, "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."

How amazing is that? All too often, companies will almost skirt around the cheater issue, but Blizzard is starting its new game with no patience for them. "While we are unlikely to publicly acknowledge when accounts are closed as a result of cheating or using unauthorized programs, we have and will continue to monitor Overwatch for exploitative behavior, as well as take action as needed to preserve the integrity of game."

Just because Blizzard runs Overwatch won't mean that the company will be able to detect all of the cheaters out there. For that reason, players are invited to get involved. If someone is suspected of cheating, you can shoot the team an email at hacks@blizzard.com and explain what happened. It's noted that you won't receive a response from this email address, but you can be assured that it will be looked at.

Since some might get a little trigger happy with the reports, Blizzard also notes a couple of ways to make absolutely sure that the person you are about to report is in fact cheating, which mostly revolves around the game's cameras, which can sometimes misrepresent a piece of the action.

Could Overwatch stand to benefit because of Blizzard's lack of patience for cheaters? It sure can't hurt! We'll soon find out how well cheaters are handled, as the game is set to launch on May 24th for the PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.