Overwatch 2 releases to the public on Oct. 4, 2022. The game will be free-to-play for all, and with that news comes challenges with making the game safe and disruption free for all players.

Blizzard Entertainment announced on Tuesday, Sept. 27 that Overwatch 2 will include a defense matrix initiative when it launches in October. This system will drastically promote positive behavior in-game.

Blizzard Entertainment has a set of goals they hope to ensure with this new initiative. They hope to establish programs that will ensure a positive experience for all players. Make sure competitive integrity is upheld at every level of play and when need be, eliminate cheaters and disruptive players. Blizzard also hopes to create a safe community both in and out of the game for its players.

One big announcement came in the form of SMS Protect. With this new guideline, players must have a phone number attached to their battle.net account to play Overwatch 2. This is big news as players cannot have the same phone number on multiple accounts, and certain types of numbers on pre-paid phones won't work.

This step makes sure players are not using secondary accounts and also holds players to a higher standard when setting up their accounts to make sure they are who they claim to be. Overwatch 2 also will have a big change in systems design.

Machine learning and audio transcription are being enhanced in the new game. Now audio transcription will be allowed to collect a temporary voice chat recording of a player when they are reported. It will automatically be transcribed through a text-to-speech program. This file will then be analyzed for disruptive behavior, holding players accountable when disruptive behavior is flagged.

Blizzard has taken safety to the next level with Overwatch 2. The full announcement by Blizzard Entertainment has plenty of other features to make the game safer and hopefully, it creates a more open and encouraging environment when the new game drops in just a few days!

This article was originally published on dbltap as Blizzard Unveils Overwatch 2 Defense Matrix Initiative.