Blizzard is continuing its crusade against the toxicity that has permeated every facet of Overwatch. Online games where people are paired with strangers will inevitably have some toxic players, but Overwatch has accumulated more than its fair share. It's so bad that many steps are constantly being taken to curb it, and it's been stated many times that it is a top priority for Blizzard. The latest action being taken is a change in how players report these bad eggs -- or rather, what happens after they do.
The holiday-themed Winter Wonderland event returns to Overwatch today, and the patch that comes with it will include these new changes to player reporting. From now on, players will receive an in-game notification when action has been taken against someone they reported.
The game's director, Jeff Kaplan, spoke to PCGamesN about this new system, saying the company briefly experimented with sending emails to players before deciding to keep it all within Overwatch.
"As of that Winter Wonderland patch we’ll have the technology to do it directly in the game. Hopefully that restores some of people’s faith in the system and then they use it more."
As for those on the receiving end, they will receive a warning from Blizzard if they have been reported multiple times. The warning will inform them of possible punishments should they continue their unsavory behavior. This is the extend of the company's leniency. After the warning, it's up to the player to decide how they will move forward.
In more light-hearted news, the latest trailer for Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One released recently and included a staggering amount of pop culture references. Among the many characters present in the movie will be an assortment from the world of video games, which includes a certain character from Overwatch. It's quick, but Tracer can briefly be seen running alongside Street Fighter's Chun-Li in one of the later scenes from the trailer. The plucky gal has long been the game's chosen mascot, so it's not surprising to see her there, representing one of the most popular games of the time .
Overwatch is out now for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Source: VG247