Toxicity in Overwatch down by over a quarter following new measures from Blizzard
Game director promises further improvement along with exploration and implementation of new systems
Blizzard's gruelling battle against toxicity in Overwatch has taken a positive turn, with abusive behavior dropping off considerably over the last month.
Although no data is currently available regarding Europe, game director Jeff Kaplan confirmed the number of competitive matches containing abusive chat was down by 26.4 per cent in the Americas, and 16.4 per cent in Korea.
Additionally, the number of daily players acting abusively was down 28.8 per cent in the Americas, and 21.6 per cent in Korea.
The marked improvement comes just a month after Blizzard introduced the new Endorsement and Looking for Group features, designed to curb toxic behavior with positive reinforcement and improved team cohesion.
"We're really pleased with the community's efforts to make OW a better place! Thank you all!" said Kaplan in a post on the game's forums.
"And we'll keep working on iterating on these features to make them better as well as exploring other systems to improve the gameplay environment."
Toxicity in Overwatch has plagued Blizzard for years, with Kaplan at one point even saying "It often feels like there is no winning".
However, this is the second reported improvement of player behavior in recent months, with Blizzard confirming a reduction in abusive behaviour of 17 per cent back in January following changes to the reporting system.