As per this latest report by
segmentnext.com,
Blizzard seems to be further stamping down on cheating that is occuring in
Overwatch, specificially in
Korea.
A little bit of context, as per provided
via this reddit post. Korea operates a lot of Cyber Cafes that allow gamers to play games like Overwatch without needing to purchase it.
A legitimate
Battle.Net account is needed to log in and play in these cafes, but since Korean Battle.Net accounts are tied to Korean Social Security numbers, cheaters and exploiters create and use North American and European accounts instead. Thus there is no fear of reprisal or consenquence from anti-cheating measures as such cheaters simply make a new NA/EU Battle.Net account and continue playing in these cafes.
Thus in response, Blizzard are enacting the following:
- We know scripts and hacks, and the battle.net account exploit using Korean PC Bangs is a big big problem.
- We are trying to find every possible solutions to script creators and distributors, including lawsuits.
- For the problems existing outside the client, for a short-term solution, we are currently cracking down abnormal VPN accesses from Korean PC Bangs. (This means illegal VPN providers who distribute PC Bang IPs to individuals, thereby making them reap the benefits of PC Bang servers anywhere.)
- From February 17th, 2017 KST, as the Battle.net account policy changes, foreign Battle.net accounts need to have purchased the license of a game to play the game on PC Bangs. This will initially apply only to Overwatch, and Diablo III and Starcraft II will soon follow the same policy. Korean accounts will not be subject to this change.
Source: Blizzard via Reddit
One key thing to note is that Blizzard intends to press on such anti-cheating measures to their other IPs that are offered in cyber cafes such as
Diablo III and
Starcraft II so this is indeed a welcome step. Do you think these measures that Blizzard are introducing is sufficient or is it not strong enough a deterrent?
