Blizzard has recently implemented some new changes aimed at ensuring a safe and enjoyable environment in Overwatch 2. The Defense Matrix update brings several great features that promise to enhance your gaming experience even further. Some of the additions in Season 10 include faster reporting, more stringent chat sanctions, player surveys, and more.

While these changes are certainly useful, they may not be as significant as others. Find out what else is going to change in the game moving forward and how it will impact your matches.

Table of Contents:

• Adding "Wide Groups" to Competitive
• Reducing Leavers
• Streamers Protecting Update 
• Avoid As Teammate Updates

Adding "Wide Groups" to Competitive

Overwatch 2 is introducing new "Wide Groups" available at the beginning of Season 10. These groups will allow players from different ranks to match up and play together in Competitive. In other words, regardless of your rank, you and your friends can always play ranked together, eliminating the need for higher-ranked players to switch to lower-rank accounts. This addition will greatly enhance the game experience, making it easier for players to compete and have fun together.

However, there are some downsides to consider. The queue times may be longer as it becomes more challenging to match teams with similar abilities and ranks. To ensure fairness, teams with players of varying ranks will face opponents with similar skill levels.

Moreover, when lower-ranked players team up with higher-ranked players, they may benefit from being carried by them. To prevent lower-ranked players from unfairly climbing ranks, Blizzard is introducing a new Modifier that will balance the progression of the winning team.

Lastly, Solo Players will only be able to play in "Narrow Groups" or with other solo players. This means Wide Groups of four players will not be allowed.

Reducing Leavers 

This update is targeting leavers in both Unranked and Competitive matches. Overwatch 2 is announcing new rules that will definitely reduce the number of people quitting mid-game and leaving the rest of their team to struggle.

Unranked Leavers

• Leave four of your last 20 games played cooldown for 20 minutes
• Leave six of your last 20 games played cooldown for 4 hours
• NEW - Leave two of your last 20 games played cooldown for 5 minutes 
• NEW - Leave ten of your last 20 games played cooldown for 48 hours

Competitive Leavers

Competitive games are receiving strict but necessary updates that will limit players to quitting a total of 10 games for the entire season. The new Competitive rule will ban any player who quits more than 10 matches throughout the season. Deliberate leaves and connection issues will all be counted in those ten matches, so players need to be cautious. The quits will be tallied throughout the entire season, regardless of frequency.

Streamers Protecting Update

Previous actions taken by Blizzard seem to have been insufficient in keeping Streamer's privacy hidden. This led to unfair games that ruined the experience of those who shared their gameplay. 

However, the new feature called "Hide My Name" will allow all players (not only streamers) to hide their real Battle Tag and change it to a randomly generated one. At the end of the match, players will be able to check the real tags of others. 

Avoid As Teammate Updates

The Avoid As Teammate feature is currently available in Overwatch 2, allowing you to prevent certain players from being paired with you again. Currently, you have only three available slots for the player tags of those whom you don't want to match up with.

The new update for Avoid As Teammate will provide you with 10 spots for players you didn't enjoy playing with. If all 10 spots are filled and you wish to ban a new player, the one who has been on your list the longest will be removed to free up a spot. However, you can prioritize certain players by pinning them, ensuring their tags remain on your list even if you add new ones, regardless of how long they have been there.

Make sure to try out Venture as soon as the limited-time play trial begins! Check our website for more useful and up-to-date Overwatch 2 content:

• Overwatch 2 New DPS Hero Venture: All Abilities, Release Date, Play Trial & More

• Overwatch 2 Developer Update: All Heroes Unlocked, New Mythics Shop, New Maps, & More
• Overwatch 2 Season 9 DPS Tier List - All DPS Heroes Ranked