What are leaver penalties in Overwatch 2?

Leaving an Overwatch 2 match calls for a punishment to discourage players from abandoning games, and that’s where leaver penalties come into play.

While most of us try to avoid leaving a match in Overwatch 2 as much as possible, there will come a time when you won’t have another choice. A couple of months ago, when I was late-night queueing to increase my Overwatch 2 rank, I constantly ran into a toxic player who would grief due to the tiniest triggers. Getting matched with this player on my team for the third time was too much for me, so I ended up leaving the match, accepting my punishment.

Overwatch 2 leaver penalties for competitive play

Leaving a competitive Overwatch 2 match, in most cases, results in a 15-minute penalty. However, This punishment will gradually increase if you continue to leave matches. The following list covers all the punishments you may receive depending on how many games you leave out of your most recent matches:

• Leaving one competitive match — 15 minute penalty
• Leaving two competitive matches — Two hour penalty
• Leaving three competitive matches — Eight hour penalty
• Leaving four competitive matches — 20 hour penalty
• Leaving five competitive matches — Competitive season ban
• Leaving ten competitive matches — Competitive season ban

Overwatch 2 leaver penalties for unranked modes

Unranked Overwatch 2 modes could be less serious overall, but leaving is still punished since it’ll disrupt the gaming experience of the other players in your matches. Leaving an unranked Overwatch 2 often results in a warning, but this punishment will also increase depending on the number of matches you leave in your last 20 games.

• Leaving one unranked match — Warning
• Leaving two to three unranked matches — Five minute penalty
• Leaving four to five games — 20 minute penalty
• Leaving six to nine games — Four hour penalty
• Leaving more than 10 games — 48 hour penalty