Blizzard bans hundreds of Chinese Overwatch accounts for trolling

Blizzard is stepping up its punishments for misbehaving Overwatch players worldwide.

Chinese Overwatch accounts just faced a massive wave of bans for a variety of issues, including griefing and trolling, according to a post on the Overwatch forum. Bad behavior in Overwatch is not only contrary to the spirit of the game, but in violation of Blizzard’s code of conduct. Because of how severely trolling impacts other users’ experience, Blizzard takes it seriously.

The developer went as far as publishing a list of usernames that have been punished in the subsequent ban wave—and that list is long.

Related: More than 480,000 Overwatch accounts have been punished by Blizzard

Its part of Blizzard’s worldwide efforts to crack down on cheating and griefing players in Overwatch. In September, Blizzard began issuing permanent bans for players that don’t play fair in Competitive Play. Any player that racks up three or more seasonal bans in Competitive Play is at risk of a permanent ban from Overwatch.

Once an account has been permanently banned, it can’t return to good standing.

Earlier in September, Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan spoke about in-game toxicity, noting that more than 480,000 Overwatch accounts had been punished since the game’s launch in 2016. Months have past since his initial statement, and it wouldn’t be surprising to hear that number had gone up.

Overwatch’s reporting feature is still a work in progress, but according to Kaplan, it’s one of the team’s main focuses.