- The game has been suffering from early leavers dropping out of ranked matches
- This often ruins the game for other players
- Devs said in a Reddit AMA how they plan to combat this issue
Early leavers have been a problem for ranked Overwatch 2 since the launch of the game but it seems Blizzard is finally tackling the problem with harsher penalties.
Devs Working on a Solution
Overwatch 2 has been having many issues since its launch in October, with the game’s ranked mode also suffering. From a controversial upgrade system to messed up matchmaking that players have been complaining about, the game sometimes seems like a work in progress. Because of this, many fans have been pushed away from ranked play, but Blizzard is making slow but steady progress in ironing out the many kinks Overwatch 2 has.
One of the main reasons competitive play in the game seems to be sucking so much in the last few months is the fact that many players quit or disconnect from ranked matches, especially at the end of the season. Naturally, this ruins the other players’ games who have already raised their voices for Blizzard to do something about the problem.
It seems that the Overwatch devs have finally heard the players’ plight. During a recent Reddit AMA, the community asked the devs many things regarding topics ranging from hero balance to competitive modes. The issue of early leavers came up as well and when asked how the dev team is planning to fix the issue, Systems Designer Gavin Winter explained the team is already thinking about the problem.
“We agree that we can do more to disincentivize leaving games, especially at the end of competitive seasons,” Winter acknowledged the problem. The Overwatch 2 dev then went on to explain how the team wants to tackle the problem, a solution that is based on heavier penalties that will carry over to new seasons. “We’re considering making ranked penalties partially carry over from season to season and we’d like to make sure that leaving games is never optimal for progressing challenges regardless of whether you’re in ranked or unranked,” Winter explained.
It should be noted that the Overwatch dev did not go into detail about how exactly this system will work, nor did he say anything about when we can expect it to be implemented in the game. It’s likely we might see it introduced in the upcoming season 4.
