As is, has been and always will be the case for developers, the more popular your game becomes, the more likely it is to be targeted by certain unsavory types that want to cheat their way to victory. Blizzard’s Overwatch is no different, and it seems as if the popular shooter is starting to suffer from problem players on an increasingly regular basis. One such issue is ‘Nuking’ (or, for those that prefer the technical term, DDoS attacks): an act that sees online servers flooded with connection requests from multiple sources in order to force disconnections or latency issues.
Blizzard has, of course, taken note of the act being performed, and has started swinging the ban hammer liberally in order to make online play in Overwatch a much more enjoyable experience. In a statement sent to Kotaku, they said that action was currently being taken against “those who use these tactics to create an unfair latency advantage,” as well as making constant improvements to its anti-hack/cheating tools. The statement concludes by reassuring fans that additional countermeasures that “prevent hacks like this” in the future are on their way and will hopefully be in place soon.
While it’s disappointing to hear that certain minorities aren’t averse to stooping so low in order go gain an unfair advantage, DDoS attacks are a problem that plague a lot of online games, especially those of a competitive nature. Bungie’s own Destiny has endured a similar problem with its winner-takes-all PvP mode Trials of Osiris, an issue that players have frequently documented on Reddit. With any luck, Blizzard will be able to put the issue to rest soon. Nobody likes cheaters.
Tell us, have you had any run-ins with these so-called Nukers while playing Overwatch? Let us know how big of a problem you think it’s become in the comments below.
