New Overwatch Feature Lets You Avoid Poor Teammates

One of the best things about Overwatch is how frequently developer Blizzard updates the game not just with new characters and maps, but with enhanced features and bug fixes as well. Not even a week after the debut of the game's newest character, Brigitte, Blizzard has unveiled a new addition to the player reporting tools, one where players can choose to block having someone else as a teammate in future matches.

Aptly called "Avoid as Teammate," the new feature has already been pushed out on Overwatch's PTR, or Public Test Realm, for PC players. There's also a new developer update video, where Blizzard goes into detail about the new option, and explains that its goal is to "help players create a better and more positive gameplay experience."

Avoid as Teammate basically works like this: players can select the option on someone they've played with and it will go into effect starting with the next match, meaning that person will no longer be placed on their team. Of course, there are limits to keep the feature from being abused: marked players will only be avoided for one week, and no more than two players can be avoided at once. Also, players are only avoided as teammates, not from appearing as opponents.

It's clear that Blizzard has designed the new option as a middle ground to address problems players may be having outside of situations where others are doing something that warrants reporting for poor behaviors. Blizzard's Scott Mercer explains, "Sometimes you don't want to play with someone as a teammate because you disagree with their playstyle or hero choice. Sometimes your personalities or communication style simply clash. These can happen without either party being toxic."

SOURCE Blizzard