In a developer update video posted yesterday, Blizzard gave a behind the scenes look at the progress on toxicity in the game, as well as how they balance heroes, and balance updates. One thing that stands out is director Jeff Kaplan announced they are actively searching YouTube and other social media sites to hunt down toxic players, and "action them" proactively.
While I agree toxicity in online gaming, especially Overwatch is a serious problem, one has to ask how far is too far in order to bring it in check? Regardless of my feelings on the tracking down of players outside of the game, I always appreciate this kind of transparency from game devs, and that alone should be applauded.
“We now proactively seek out social media sites like YouTube, for example,” Kaplan said, “and look for incidents of very toxic behavior and track down the accounts that are participating in those and action them, often times before anybody’s even reported them or they’ve shown up in any other place. That’s just one example of us being proactive that I think is going to make a big difference over time.”
While I agree toxicity in online gaming, especially Overwatch is a serious problem, one has to ask how far is too far in order to bring it in check? Regardless of my feelings on the tracking down of players outside of the game, I always appreciate this kind of transparency from game devs, and that alone should be applauded.
“We now proactively seek out social media sites like YouTube, for example,” Kaplan said, “and look for incidents of very toxic behavior and track down the accounts that are participating in those and action them, often times before anybody’s even reported them or they’ve shown up in any other place. That’s just one example of us being proactive that I think is going to make a big difference over time.”