Overwatch recently added two new features for players in an aim to reduce the toxic environment. Good news: it seems to be working. Blizzard gave players the option to group up with others based on filters as well as the ability to endorse other players for their good behavior.
The company is taking reports from players about toxicity seriously and wants to make Overwatch a more positive experience for everyone. The results are coming in and abuse is going down. According to a post on the Overwatch forums, game director Jeff Kaplan reported that incidents of abuse are down among players mostly from the Americas and Korea.
The following numbers come from data from Blizzard’s Global Insights group. Right after they released Endorsements and Looking For Group, competitive matches with abusive chat were down 26.4 percent in the Americas and 16.4 percent in Korea. Also important to note — the number of daily players being abusive to one another was down 28.8 percent in the Americas and 21.6 percent in Korea. Very good results and all a step in the right direction.
“We’re really pleased with the community’s efforts to make OW a better place!” Kaplan said. “Thank you all! And we’ll keep working on iterating on these features to make them better as well as exploring other systems to improve the gameplay environment.”
These two new features were added in the past month and players are making good use of them. Think of it like receiving a gold star for good behavior like you did back in school. Blizzard wants to reward players, not punish them, and only more good things can come from that. Good job to Blizzard and the Overwatch community for supporting the positive movement. What do you think of the new features? Do you utilize them and have you personally noticed a change for the better?
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