Cheating such as aimbotting is reportable and you should do so if you suspect the player has any automated motion to their hits.
However, the definition of “smurfing” is extremely ambiguous
However, owning an alternate account and that person is playing their best is NOT a violation of the End User License Agreement or the In-Game Code-of-Conduct .
Here are key statements from the development team about this subject:
Game Director Jeff Kaplan:
I think there are two separate concepts:
Smurfing. I would define this as an experienced player buying a second account to reset their account progress and internal matchmaking rating (MMR)
Boosting. This is behavior some players engage in in Competitive Play where one player is more skilled than their partner and attempts to “carry” the lower skilled player to a higher skill tier.
Boosting is bad and we are very actively working on preventing and punishing this behavior. Rules like the 500 SR differential in Comp above Diamond exist because of Boosting. There is nothing about Boosting that is acceptable and we want you to know that we are taking great efforts to minimize the impact on “fair” players.
Smurfing – and I know this isn’t what you want to hear – isn’t really that big of an issue. For example, a few weeks ago one of the Pro Overwatch players created a smurf account and was streaming from it. We were able to watch his MMR internally and compare it against his “main” account. Within 15 games, the MMR’s were equal. I know there is a very bad perception of Smurfing. But the reality is, skilled players are moved rapidly out of lower skill situations.
I’ve also personally witnessed a few cases of players assuming someone is smurfing when they are not. One of the people I play with is highly skilled. He played a ton in the beta. He works on the Heroes of the Storm team and plays Heroes most nights. But occasionally he comes and plays OW with us because he really enjoys the game. As a result, he is way lower level than we are. Most of us are 3-5 stars… and he is about level 30. Every time we group with him, someone accuses him of being a smurf. But he’s not.
Anyway, we will always monitor deviant behavior and if we feel like there is behavior occurring that hurts honest, fair players, we will take action. We are definitely working on the boosting issue.
Source: Old Overwatch Forum Archives
Game Director Jeff Kaplan:
Having a second account you play on is fine. New accounts very rapidly adjust to play at the proper skill level.
Doing anything to manipulate your internal MMR or Skill Rating (i.e. Boosting or Throwing) is not fine.
Penalties for boosting and throwing are about to increase dramatically. Please report the behavior (reporting is being worked on for Console but is not ready yet).
Source: Old Overwatch Forum Archives
Starting a new account is not against the rules. Boosting or throwing is against the rules.
If you start a new account and play normally, the matchmaker determines your skill level very quickly and matches you with similar players.
Prinicipal Designer Scott Mercer:
Things get a little murkier when the “smurf” is a brand new account. We have multiple different systems in the matchmaker to try and identify new players skill and adjust quickly such as win streak bonuses, increased rate of MMR change for new players, and we still make some adjustments based on your personal performance until the player reaches a high SR. We can tune these more aggressively, but it can create negative consequences for players who actually ARE new. So we’re looking at some new ways to identify skill so we can quickly identify the players who skill and SR don’t match. It’s a tricky problem, but we’re working on it.
Source: Reddit AMA - July 2020
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