How to avoid being put on Blizzard's naughty step.
If you’ve ever been tempted to bail out on a game of Overwatch, be warned that you run the risk of incurring some pretty significant XP penalties for doing so. The leaver penalty system has been in place for a little while now, but a post from Lylirra on Overwatch’s official forums has finally clarified how exactly it works.
Here’s a complete breakdown of what’s involved, quoting directly from the development team.
- If you leave too many games and your “games played” vs “games completed” percentage falls below our required threshold, you will receive a warning message (this percentage is calculated based on your 20 most recent games).
- If you continue to leave games after receiving a warning (which will display in the lower left-hand corner of your screen), you will incur a 75% EXP penalty on all future games.
- The penalty isn’t time-based, but instead will be removed once you complete enough games to raise your “games played” vs “games completed” percentage above our required threshold (again, this percentage is calculated based on your 20 most recent games).
- If you disconnect or are removed due to inactivity from a game, it will count the same as if you leave the game intentionally.
Lylirra further clarified the precise circumstances under which it is possible to incur experience point penalties in the game:
If you leave a game before the “Assemble Your Team” phase is over (i.e. before you enter your starting spawn rooms):
- It won’t count as a game played
- You will not be considered a “leaver” in this scenario
If you leave a game after the match ends (i.e. after you see the VICTORY/DEFEAT screen):
- It will count as a game played—and if your team won, it will count as a win
- You will not be considered a “leaver” in this scenario
If you leave a game after the “Assemble Your Team” phase is over, but before the match ends:
- It will count as a game played
- You will be considered a “leaver” in this scenario
So, there you go. Stick around and see things out and you’ll get your rewards, but storm off too many times and you’ll be penalised for some time.
Source – Blizzard
