Blizzard announces Overwatch cheaters will be banned for life

Blizzard has stated that any players found to be cheating in Overwatch, through hacks, bots of third-party software, will receive a lifetime ban from the game.

The announcement comes from a forum post by community manager, Lylirra in which she said “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.” adding that “Not only does cheating undermine the spirit of fair play that all of our products are based on, but it works to diminish the fun and enjoyment of others.”

Although bans are nothing new to Blizzard titles, with both Diablo III and World of Warcraft regularly rolling out the banhammer, these tend to be on a temporary basis so this new approach may strike some as harsh. The post then goes on to explain that players will be able to report anyone they believe to be cheating via email, at hacks@blizzard.com, or through the game client itself.

Finally Lylirra requests that, before reporting another player for cheating, it should be taken into account that the in-game camera system may play footage back at a different fidelity than real-time gameplay and that some players are just plain great at first-person shooters.

Overwatch will be released on May 24 for PS4, Xbox One and PC.