Overwatch 2 update lets you finally endorse your friends

Starting in Overwatch 2 Season 9, you can finally endorse your friends who are on the same team as you! Here are the details about the Overwatch 2 friend endorsements plus what else is in store for the game's Defense Matrix initiative. This initiative also goes into leaver penalties, cheating, and account suspensions. The goal of it is to let players enjoy Overwatch 2 in a safe and fair environment. 

Overwatch 2 Season 9 is going to lift an endorsement restriction by allowing friends who are on the same team to endorse each other after a match. This is getting implemented because Blizzard doesn't wish to discourage folks from celebrating their teammates.

This update on Overwatch 2 friend endorsements is also a response to feedback that called for greater endorsement impact, according to Blizzard. The official announcement went into endorsement improvements that happened in Season 7 and Season 8 to highlight this.

"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," Blizzard stated. "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."

Another goal of the Defense Matrix initiative involves discouraging leavers. In a previous Overwatch 2 update, players got restricted from getting into games after leaving six out of 20 matches. Starting in Overwatch 2 Season 9, the game's leaver queue restrictions are extending to the Mystery Heroes game mode. The same goes for the Hero Mastery: Gauntlet mode later in the year.

In terms of fulfilling the goal of fair gameplay, Overwatch 2 has banned over 380,000 accounts for cheating since its launch. Additionally, over 35,000 accounts have been either suspended or banned for grouping up with cheaters, according to Blizzard.

Blizzard's announcement then added that the Overwatch 2 team will continue taking action against disruptive behaviors. They will also acknowledge the possibility of being actioned unfairly.

"If you feel you’ve been actioned unfairly because someone else may have compromised your account, you may choose to appeal the action, and we’ll review and make a final decision," the announcement stated.

That's all for now. Stick around on esports.gg for more news and updates.