Overwatch fans are once again trying to find a solution to make great players stop using secondary accounts in low-level ranked matches. That’s called “smurfing,” and the main issue about it is that players with high Skill Ratings end up in matches against others who are far worse and ruin their fun by stomping them.
One player thinks that raising the minimum account level to join ranked play from 25 to 50 might help to reduce the number of smurf accounts in ranked, since “25 is pretty easy to get, especially if you’re teaming with a bunch of people.” This would increase the time players with smurf accounts would need to play in other modes before unlocking ranked, which could put them off before creating these accounts.
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Good players with new accounts become a problem because Overwatch has to assess their level all over again, which means these players are matches with legitimately new players that they end up dominating in every ranked match until they receive a high ranking.
There are downsides to this method. Players who have legit new accounts would also take much longer to join ranked, which can be a letdown for those who want to jump into competitive right away. Others noted that adding a telephone number to each account as a requirement to play ranked could also hinder smurfing, since Blizzard could prevent players from using the same number for two accounts.
Smurfing in Overwatch is allowed by Blizzard as long as the player behind the account isn’t intentionally maintaining a low Skill Rating to abuse the system. To be able to play Overwatch on a new account on the PC, players have to buy another copy of the game.
