For many Overwatch fans, this is bad news: Smurfing in Overwatch is allowed and does not lead to any penalties.
In Overwatch, many players complain about accounts from other players that have a low level but play like a pro. Often, these are second accounts from professionals. Is this “smurfing” actually a form of cheating? Jeff Kaplan from the Overwatch team has clarified: No, it is not.
What is smurfing? A “smurf” refers to the second or third account of a very good player.
With a fresh account, he does not yet have the high skill rating of his main account and will often face players who are significantly inferior to him.
What did Kaplan say? In the official forum, Jeff Kaplan, the game director of Overwatch, stated: “Starting a new account does not violate the rules. Boosting or throwing, however, does.”
- Boosting refers to “pulling” other players to raise their skill rating.
- Throwing, on the other hand, is deliberately giving up by not participating or trolling your own team.
Kaplan further explained: “If you start a new account and play normally, the matchmaker will quickly categorize your skill and let you compete against similar players.”
This makes it official: Smurfing is completely legal in Overwatch.
Cortyn says: Smurfing is one of those annoying problems for which there is simply no real solution. I have some friends who tried Overwatch during the “Free Weekend” and quickly lost interest because they were shot by Widowmaker from 200 meters as soon as they left the spawn room.
This is a real deterrent for newcomers, hindering rather than promoting the fun of the game.
What is your opinion on smurfing? Should Blizzard reconsider and change their stance on this? Or is there no reason to do so?
