Hi everyone,
Recently, we’ve investigated third-party applications designed for use while playing Overwatch and we’d like to reiterate which of these applications are not permitted in Overwatch. To provide more clarity, any third-party application that impedes on the competitive integrity in Overwatch is not allowed. For example, a third-party application that offers users information such as enemy position, enemy health, enemy ability usage, or Ultimate readiness creates an uneven playing field for every other player in the map.
Additionally, these third-party applications breach the Blizzard End User License Agreement, as specified:
cheats; i.e. methods not expressly authorized by Blizzard, influencing and/or facilitating the gameplay, including exploits of any in-game bugs, and thereby granting you and/or any other user an advantage over other players not using such methods;
bots; i.e. any code and/or software, not expressly authorized by Blizzard, that allows the automated control of a Game, or any other feature of the Platform, e.g. the automated control of a character in a Game;
hacks; i.e. accessing or modifying the software of the Platform in any manner not expressly authorized by Blizzard; and/or any code and/or software, not expressly authorized by Blizzard, that can be used in connection with the Platform and/or any component or feature thereof which changes and/or facilitates the gameplay or other functionality;
Our stance has always been that users found to be cheating—or using hacks, bots, or third-party software that provides any sort of unfair advantage—those users will be permanently banned from the game. In this case, we’ll be reaching out to users that we’ve detected to be using this unauthorized software; to notify those users that those specific third-party applications are not permitted and do not align with the Blizzard EULA. Furthermore, we will be requesting those users to immediately remove the unauthorized software to avoid account suspension.
We take competition very seriously in Overwatch. The foundation of good competition is every player being equally-equipped to compete against one another, but many third-party applications erode the level playing field in Overwatch we strive for.
Thank you, Heroes.