Unfortunately for these gamers, Blizzard is having none of it and Overwatch’s director Jeff Kaplan announced on the forums that they would be banning players who abused the system in this manner. According to Kaplan’s post, “If you create a Custom Game that in any way encourages players to gain experience while inactive, you risk having your account banned.”
He also adds, “If you join any game mode – including Custom Games – with the intent of gaining experience while being inactive, you risk having your account banned. Also, do not name your Custom Game that in anyway even implies that gaining experience while inactive is OK – please do not even do this as a joke – because you are putting yourself at risk of having your account banned.”
Blizzard has been pretty strict with regards to Overwatch and had no problems with banning over 1,000 players at the game’s launch for cheating. The company had previously stated that they had a no-nonsense approach with the game and that any cheater found would be given a permanent ban.