An Overwatch 2 pro player has been banned for typing a curse word in the game chat, with Blizzard doubling down on all profanity being punishable.
An Overwatch 2 pro player, Mason “durpee” Kuehne, had his account banned, however, was not immediately given a reason as to why he was slapped with this punishment, despite asking Blizzard’s customer support directly.
As it would turn out, Blizzard eventually got back and revealed that his account was suspended for inappropriate language, though the words in question weren’t as harsh as you might think. At least not for a proper ban.
As the customer support revealed, the inappropriate language used was the “F-word and the Sh-word,” which is what caused the ban.
This justification caused uproar in the community, with one player asking why the words were ban-worthy as Overwatch has a profanity filter that can be turned on if players don’t want to read swear words.
Blizzard Customer Support said, “No, the filter is for those who wish to use it, but profanity has never been allowed in our games. If reported, absolutely actionable.”
Players pointed out hypocrisy on Blizzard’s part, with Cassidy’s belt having BAMF written on it, translating to ‘Badass motherf*****’, or that Overwatch voice lines in different languages contain cursing.
It should be noted that Overwatch 2 has an ESRB rating of Teen, which allows the “infrequent use of strong language” according to the ratings board.
However, as stated by Blizzard, in their in-game Code of Conduct, no player is allowed to use any offensive or vulgar language at all.
As a result of his unique ban, durpee announced that he won’t be able to compete in the a Blizzard collegiate tournament for the next month.
