Blizzard banned more than 1600 Korean Overwatch accounts

Game development companies are pretty strict against cheating or hacking these days. We have seen several instances where game development companies have sent out huge ban waves.

On August 18, Blizzard banned more than 1600 Korean Overwatch Accounts for account sharing, and it has been one of the biggest crackdowns of the year from Blizzard against cheating.

Naeri, an Overwatch insider, revealed this information on Twitter, where she mentioned Blizzard banned a total of 1618 accounts during Competitive Season 17.

The ban has been implemented in South Korea. A Korean Blizzard representative has also posted the names of all the banned accounts on the official Korean Overwatch forum.

This ban has been carried out because account sharing is not legal in Korea. Maybe ‘boosting’ by many players has resulted in such a big ban wave and strict action against cheaters. Overwatch Esports is filled with a lot of Korean players, so there are chances a few players might have used unethical means to increase their SR.

Speaking of Boosting, it is an unethical way of increasing the competitive rank of a low-ranked player which is often performed by a player with higher skills. Battle.net defines Overwatch Boosting as when players are paying a website to help boost their rank in the Competitive mode of the game.

While sharing a list of banned accounts, Blizzard Korean representative also wrote the following:

We are pleased to inform you that account sanctions have taken place for the 17th Season of Competitive Actions (Account Sharing) following account sanctions against rogue users /offenders.

Blizzard Entertainment is committed to creating a fair and positive gaming environment for our players.

The sanctions below are the number and list of accounts that were deliberately manipulated during the 17 seasons of the Overwatch competition, or were suspended for proxy acts that disrupted or mediated normal operation of the game.

Also, Blizzard’s End User License Agreement prohibits players from sharing ‘account or login information with anyone.’ It also states that players will be fully responsible for any activity that breaks the agreement rules.

For a quick refresher, Overwatch August 13 update added a new hero ‘Sigma’ to the game. Sigma has joined the game as a tank hero.

Sigma is an astrophysicist, who gained the power to control gravity in one of this scientific experiment which went wrong. Sigma has five abilities which are detailed below.

HYPERSPHERES

Sigma launches two gravitic charges, which bounce off walls and implode after a short duration, damaging enemies within a sizable radius.

EXPERIMENTAL BARRIER

Sigma propels a floating barrier to a location of his choosing. He can dismiss the barrier at any time.

KINETIC GRASP

Sigma freezes incoming projectiles in midair, converting them into shields.

ACCRETION

Sigma gathers a mass of debris and flings it at an enemy to knock them down.

GRAVITIC FLUX

Unleashing his full powers, Sigma takes flight, lifts enemies in a targeted area, and launches them into the sky before slamming them back down.

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