The much-awaited Reporting and Punishment feature is finally arriving on console versions of “Overwatch.” It appears that Blizzard is doing everything to address the toxicity issue that has been plaguing the game and frustrating honest players. The information was recently revealed by Game Director Jeff Kaplan.
Reporting and Punishment Feature
There have been several changes in the Reporting and Punishment system in Blizzard’s popular first-person shooter title. A few weeks ago, the game developer intensified this feature to address the ongoing complaint of players about griefers, throwers, and cheaters in the game.
However, this feature is only available on PC. Players using Xbox One and PlayStation 4 have been raising the same issue to Blizzard. With the lack of the reporting and penalty system in the console, toxic players have been running wild pestering the community. It appears, however, that their days are already numbered as the feature will soon be released on the console.
Arriving sooner
On the game’s official forum, Game Director Jeff Kaplan confirmed that the Reporting and Punishment system is arriving to the consoles. According to Kaplan, it will be released alongside the Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch modes in Arcade. The highly requested console feature is included in Patch 1.14, which is currently on the game’s Public Test Realm.
In the works
The game director added that the reporting and punishment system are still ongoing projects for the team. He added that fans can expect more improvements coming in the future. According to Kaplan, they are currently looking into increasing punishments for high-frequency offenders. In addition, he also mentioned that they are working on sending email notifications to players whose reports resulted to disciplinary action.
This is currently being experimented and will be refined and expanded soon. Moreover, the game director revealed that the team is currently working on notifications in the game client when the reports submitted by the players resulted in disciplinary action.
It appears that Blizzard is well-aware of the current level of toxicity in the game and they are doing something to address this.
There are several reports that because of the current situation in the community, several big names in game streaming and content making are dropping the game and playing more of “PlayerUnknown’s Battleground.”
It is interesting to note that the reporting for the console is finally arriving. With the email notifications and game client notifications coming, fans are hoping that the griefers, throwers, and cheaters would soon end their toxic ways of playing “Overwatch.” The system just needs more teeth in order for this dishonest way of playing to finally stop.
