Middle East Server issue

[Zuvykree]

@Jambrix

Hey again,

The Overwatch team investigated the reports of players not getting placed on the new GMEC server. What they found is that the majority of Middle Eastern players are properly connecting to the GMEC server, but there is a subset of players that are getting routed to the EU servers. The reason for this is due to a local ISP routing issue causing some players to have higher ping to the GMEC server compared to the EU servers.

The matchmaking system will attempt to put you on the server with the lowest ping. If you are getting placed on EU servers, this means your ping is lower to EU compared to the new GMEC server. It seems that some ISPs are not providing optimal routing to the Google data center where GMEC is hosted. This is something only those ISPs can fix since Blizzard can not change your routing.

If you have not already, we recommend reporting the issue to your ISP so they are at least aware of the problem. The person you speak with will not be able to fix the routing, but the more reports they receive, the better so they can track the impact. Their engineers can reach out to Blizzard’s network team via email if they need assistance.

Our original messaging on this issue hasn’t changed. I do have one update: For custom games not seeing GMEC server selection, our team is planning on resolving this in a future update.

For Saudi Arabia players being routed to Europe and running into issues after troubleshooting with your ISP. I do recommend running a 10-minute Ping Plotter to one of the IPs below:

34.1.32.1
34.18.0.1

Copy the ping plotter link within the code blocks below and post it in a new thread Here.

`Link Here`

We will double-check these results, and if we see anything we can do to help within our networks or issues with our own peering partners, we will ensure that feedback gets forwarded properly to the right places.

This thread has different issues being reported, and for that reason, we are closing it to stay organized:

• For suggestions on server locations, please post these on our General forums.
• For Middle Eastern players outside of Saudi Arabia running into connection issues. We recommend troubleshooting the connection starting with the steps Here, then consulting with your Internet Service Provider. Feel free to create a new thread with a 10-minute Ping plotter to one of the IPs above if issues continue.

Thank you.