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Over 34,000 Chinese Overwatch accounts have been banned so far in 2020

Don't mess with NetEase

Overwatch Doomfist

Overwatch is by far one of the most popular games in China, but like most other online competitive games, it has a huge problem with cheaters and toxicity. NetEase and Blizzard have been hard at work to swiftly remove those who flout the rules, and it seems they’ve been pretty effective, banning more than 34,000 accounts so far this year.

According to Daniel Ahmad, the two companies have so far banned 34,433 accounts in just six months, but not all of them are for cheating. While a large portion of them are for cheating, others are for “in-game violations” and “behaviour.” In other words, NetEase has had a good old look at toxicity in its game and decided enough is enough.

As per the the current Overwatch code of conduct, players can be suspended for flouting the rules when it comes to behaviour and toxicity, but repeat offences will lead to permanent bans.

“We are always committed to creating a fair and pleasant game environment,” the translated post on Weibo states. “Officials will retain the right to permanently freeze accounts that maliciously violate the game.”

Overwatch has also apparently sold over 10 million copies in China, making it one of the most successful games there.

Given its popularity, the amount of cheaters banned in six months is pretty good and shows that Overwatch’s endorsement system, plus the addition of role queue, has helped combat trolling and toxicity in-game.