Overwatch Bug Instantly Season-Banned Comp Players, Blizzard Resolving

Published: September 26, 2017 9:02 PM /

By:


ScreenShot_17-09-26_19-27-30-000

A bug in Overwatch has resulted in over a hundred players being erroneously banned from Competitive Play according to a submission on the /r/Overwatch subreddit from the fiancé of one of the affected players going by the name Chromega.

The bug in question is apparently rare and resulted in several strange behaviors for the Competitive Play environment. First, gamers queuing for a match would join a Competitive match in a "Waiting for Players" state - something that should not even be possible. Players left the non-functional game, and affected players would find themselves stuck in these kinds of games for a short time. Eventually, they would find themselves with a drop in SR and banned for a period of time or even the entire season.

Chromega posted his fiancée Spicyhappy's stats from Overbuff, a website that aggregates the gameplay statistics for players in the Competitive environment. According to the listed stats, Spicyhappy had a record of 2 wins and 5 losses when the bug happened and it resulted in a loss of almost 700 Skill Rating, a scenario that should not be possible under normal game circumstances. Furthermore, she was banned for the remainder of the Season, but the number of disconnects should not have been enough to warrant a Season ban under the current system.

A number of other players had posted similar complaints to game's official forums, some of whom received replies from Customer Support stating that nothing could be done about the issue. Eventually, Overwatch Game Director Jeff Kaplan posted a response to the forums explaining the situation. The bug has been noted as "extremely rare" and has affected less than 200 accounts. All of the accounts that have been affected by the bug will have their Competitive Play bans lifted and their lost Skill Rating restored. In the meantime, they'll be monitoring the situation while the developers are working on a fix. Mr. Kaplan apologized for the inconvenience and frustration this has called a small subset of players and thanked them for their patience.

Right now, there is no known way to avoid the bug, so until it is fixed you may want to use care when playing competitive Overwatch.

What do you think of how Blizzard Entertainment handled this particular Competitive bug in Overwatch? Do you think the developers do a good job of squashing serious bugs quickly or is there room for improvement? Let us know in the comments below!

Have a tip, or want to point out something we missed? Leave a Comment or e-mail us at tips@techraptor.net


A photograph of TechRaptor Senior Writer Robert N. Adams.
| Senior Writer

One of my earliest memories is playing Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo Entertainment System. I've had a controller in my hand since I was 4 and I… More about Robert N

More Info About This Game
Learn more about Overwatch
Game Page Overwatch
Platforms
PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Release Date
May 24, 2016 (Calendar)
Purchase (Some links may be affiliated)