The unfortunate reality of multiplayer games is that there will be players who are toxic to other players and might be abusive in the things that they say and do. Overwatch is no exception to this, although Blizzard is working on it. That being said, a recent post on Reddit has highlighted the seriousness of the problem.
In a post by NessDan, it basically compares how Overwatch’s toxic player problem is starting to look a lot like the issues Valve had at the start of DotA 2, where it was discovered that players were quitting the game not so much because they didn’t like the gameplay, or found it too hard, but rather because of the toxic players that they encountered that ruined the experience for them.
It was suggested that Blizzard needs to start treating this more seriously if they’re hoping to avoid the pitfalls of DotA 2 (which Valve has managed to correct and reverse, at least to a certain extent). To that end, Overwatch Community Manager Griffin has responded to the thread, reaffirming the company’s decision to combat toxicity.
“Thank you for sharing this. We do take this very seriously and eliminating toxicity is still a priority for us. I’m sure you’ve all read this post from back in July and we’re still committed as ever as we continue to invest in improving the entire process.” Blizzard had previously suggested that trying to combat the toxic behavior of players has slowed down updates of the game, where resources are spent putting out those fires rather than being able to move forward.