Overwatch continues to be one of the hottest games after its release over two years ago, but, sadly, its community became known as one of the most toxic. However, after the addition of some new social features and interactions, the game is becoming more friendly and positive.
Game Director Jeff Kaplan took to the Overwatch forums earlier this week to congratulate the community as toxicity is on the decline in the USA and Korea. He pointed to some data collected from Blizzard’s Global Insights group, and things are looking pretty good! According to the post, competitive matches with abusive chats are down by 26.4% in the USA and  16.4% in Korea. The number of daily abusive users have also gone down by 28.8% in the USA and 21.6% in Korea.
Kaplan finished the post by saying:
We’re really pleased with the community’s efforts to make OW a better place! Thank you all!
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.
In their latest update, Overwatch introduced the two new social features: Looking for Group and Endorsements. Looking for Group allows players to search for other players of a certain rank, play style, hero main, and other options. Endorsements are awarded by and to players in the match. Players can be awarded “Shotcaller,” “Good Teammate,” and “Sportsmanship.” The more endorsements you receive, the higher your level, which results in better queues and other unspecified rewards in the game.
While the endorsements system has received a mixed response, it looks like the community is at least trying to be more positive. What are your thoughts on Overwatch’s newest social features? Do you think they’re helping? Or is it just for the experience points? Let us know in the comments below, and keep coming back to The Nerd Stash for all of your nerdy news and needs!