Blizzard’s security layer is meant to curb cheaters and toxic players

Blizzard have announced that for the game’s next major update, players will actually have to fully reinstall Overwatch. The next big patch is expected to introduce new hero Ashe to the live servers, as she’s currently being tested on the PTR. It sounds like the next update will do more than that, however. Blizzard is apparently making “fundamental changes” so significant that they can’t simply be patched over the game but will require a full reinstall to take effect.

Toxic player behavior in Overwatch’s competitive mode is on the decline, thanks to effort from both Blizzard and players, according to director Jeff Kaplan. Overwatch players have been reporting more bad behavior via in-game tools, but Blizzard is also going after toxic players proactively — specifically that the company is hunting them down on YouTube and taking action against them, even before any player has reported them.

Toxicity in Overwatch isn't going away, and Blizzard are developing tools to help fight it. After a little bit of a wait, one of the most requested is coming to the game on Tuesday, as part of the Winter Wonderland event patch. Once that drops, if you report a player and Blizzard takes action against their account, you'll be notified in-game. What else is coming soon? Check our run down of the next Overwatch updates.

Blizzard has publicly revealed its Overwatch loot box probabilities as new Chinese regulations aimed at online gaming kicked in this month. These regulations, reported by Eurogamer sister site Metabomb, went live at the start of May and mean that games offering random loot systems in exchange for money (including Dota 2 and League of Legends) now need to disclose the probabilities working behind the scenes. There's a great writeup of what this means over on video game industry analyst ZhugeEX's blog, if you're interested.

We’re all just waiting

“Tracer is gay! Take that gamers!”  As you probably already know, about one day ago Blizzard released a Christmas inspired “Overwatch” webcomic called “Tracer Reflecti…

Hack your way into Overwatch's sixth animated short: Infiltration!

by Quirkilicious on DeviantArt

by Quirkilicious on DeviantArt

Explore the origin story of Overwatch’s inquisitive transforming robot in our fifth animated short: The Last Bastion!

by Quirkilicious on DeviantArt

dandonfuga's DeviantArt gallery

by Quirkilicious on DeviantArt

by Quirkilicious on DeviantArt

Blizzard and Dark Horse are teaming for new comics that will expand the world of Overwatch.