Defense Matrix Season 9 Update – Endorsing Positive Players

The Defense Matrix Initiative is continuing to go strong in 2024. Previously, we shared our efforts to deter leavers in Overwatch 2, promote positive communication, and show the impact of your reports.  As we head into Season 9, we have more to share on our ongoing improvements to Endorsements and disruptive behavior.

A common theme of feedback we’ve heard is to give Endorsements greater impact. In the last few seasons, we have already made significant steps to deliver on that. In the Season 7 midseason update, we implemented multiple bug fixes that prevented players from dropping their endorsement rating too quickly and stopped penalizing players who chose to group up with their friends. In Season 8, it is now easier for players to build their endorsement rating than ever before, without worrying about their rating decaying too quickly.

There’s also a rule that friends can’t endorse each other.  While this was intentional when we first introduced Endorsements, we don’t want to discourage anyone from celebrating their teammates, even if they are already friends on Battle.net. So, starting in Season 9, we’re removing the restriction to endorse players if you are already friends.

We’ve previously shared that we adjusted how players who leave too many games in Quick Play are penalized. This has yielded some positive results, with the number of leavers dropping significantly. In previous game update, players are restricted from queuing for games and can be suspended for up to four hours if they leave six of their last 20 games played.

Starting in Season 9, we’re extending these leaver queue restrictions to Mystery Heroes, along with Hero Mastery: Gauntlet, when it is released later this year. Again, we acknowledge there may be reasons for players to step away from their unranked games. However, leaving four or more games will activate queue restrictions until you can play your games to completion.

Our efforts to fight against cheating are ongoing, and we’re pleased to share