All Competitive changes in Overwatch 2 Season 10: Group restrictions removed, leaver penalty increase, more
Blizzard EntertainmentOverwatch 2 devs have announced some major changes coming to Competitive in Season 10, and most of them have to do with combating toxicity in-game. Here is everything you need to know about the update.
The past couple of seasons of Overwatch 2 have been introducing huge changes, and the Season 10 update has some more big changes coming to Competitive to combat toxicity.
From taking away group restrictions to including new leaver penalties, here is everything you need to know.
- No Group Restrictions in Overwatch 2 Season 10
- Leaver penalty changes in Overwatch 2 Season 10
- Improved Streamer Mode in Overwatch 2 Season 10
- Endorsement chat restrictions in Overwatch 2 Season 10
No Group Restrictions in Overwatch 2 Season 10
From Overwatch 2 Season 10, players will be able to group with anyone, as group restrictions for ranked matches have been removed.
If you are Bronze and want to queue with your Platinum friend, you will be able to do so from Season 10. Gavin Winter, Senior System Designer for Overwatch 2, said that they are primarily making this change to make it easier for people to play with their friends.
These groups are referred to as ‘Wide Groups,’ and they will only be put against other Wide Groups. As a result, there will be some cons to queuing this way; your queue times may be longer, and the matches may be “sillier,” as Winter put it.
This change also aims to combat issues with smurf accounts and boosting. A lot of the time, players who want to play with their friends in lower ranks make smurf accounts in order to be able to play with them. The hope with removing group restrictions is that players will no longer have a reason to make these smurf accounts, and they will be put in matches that are a lot more balanced for everyone.
To specifically try and stop issues with boosting players, when you play in a Wide Group, you will see effectively no change in your rank after a match is complete – no matter the outcome.
The devs are also trying to make sure the matches are balanced by putting the same role rank against each other. For example, if you are a Plat Tank playing with a Bronze Support, the system will try and match you against a team who also has a Plat Tank and Bronze Support.
Leaver penalty changes in Overwatch 2 Season 10
The next big change coming to Overwatch 2 Season 10 is the way that leaver penalties work. Here are how the new leaver penalties will work for Unranked matches:
- 1 game left: Warning
- 2-3 games left: 5 minute ban
- 4-5 games left: 20 minute ban
- 6-9 games left: 4 hour ban
- 10+ games left: 48 hour ban
The amount of games left is calculated out of your last 20 games played. So it’s not something that will be over time, but rather if you are leaving a lot of games in a short period of time.
Here are how the new leaver penalties will work for Competitive Play:
- 1 game left: 15 minute ban
- 2 games left: 2 hour ban
- 3 games left: 8 hour ban
- 4 games left: 20 hour ban
- 5 games left: Competitive Season ban
- 10 games left throughout the season: Competitive Season ban
Any matches that you complete in Competitive will also be counted to the 20 game window that the devs are using for the Unranked penalties.
These Competitive matches are generally taken from a pool of your most recent games played. However, if you leave 10 games over the full season, then you will also receive the Season ban you would get for leaving five games in quick succession.
Improved Streamer Mode in Overwatch 2 Season 10
Overwatch 2 Season 10 will see changes to the Streamer Mode, which makes it accessible for all players who want more anonymity.
Blizzard EntertainmentAs a way of letting players decide who gets to see their Battletag, the devs are updating how the Streamer Mode works in Overwatch 2.
At the moment, Streamer Mode is client-side only, which basically means that it only changes how players’ names appear on your screen. In Season 10, the devs are changing it to be server-side, which will let you change how others see your name on their screen too.
This change is coming to help players who may experience harassment because of their Battletag. If anyone is using this feature, you can still report them as normal, even if you can’t see their tag.
Endorsement chat restrictions in Overwatch 2 Season 10
Starting in Overwatch 2 Season 10, players with Endorsement Level 0 will not be able to use text or voice chat.
You only hit Endorsement Level 0 when you have been previously actioned for an offense in-game. So this should not affect new players.
Players who do have Endorsement Level 0 will have the opportunity to work their way back up to Level 1, however. The idea behind this change, according to Senior Research Scientist for Overwatch 2, Natash Miller, is to make these players take a forced break from being toxic in chat.
That’s everything we know about the changes coming to Season 10! If you want to know more about Overwatch 2 in the meantime, be sure to check out our guides below.
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