Overwatch players uninstalling game over smurfing problems

Smurf accounts have been a huge problem in Overwatch for several years but for many players, enough is enough. Overwatch

has continued to maintain a decent amount of players over the course of its six-year tenure, despite a fairly significant content drought. Over this period, some players have opted to create new accounts, either to try out different roles or simply to have fun playing at a usually lower rank. These, called smurf accounts, have largely taken over the Competitive experience in Overwatch and are causing some of its long-time players to hang it up and uninstall the game altogether.

Overwatch players fed up with smurf accounts

In Overwatch’s highest ranks, it’s very common for players to play the game on multiple different accounts for various reasons. For pros, this can be to protect their identity and try out heroes they wouldn’t normally play in a competitive setting, but for others, these accounts are simply to dominate lower-ranked players.

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Whatever the reason, these smurf accounts have normal to high-ranked players fed up with the experience, leading many to uninstall the game and move on. A collection of these players have responded on a Reddit post that has garnered some attention on the game’s official subreddit, with over 330 comments in total. The post is lengthy, written by an upset player that has continuously encountered these smurfs in their games. An excerpt from it reads: “After being gone for 2 years and now coming back, it seems that the game is so heavily infested by smurfs that most smurfs are now deranking themselves to even lower ranks than before to not play against other smurfs…I’ve played 20 matches so far in 1900 as a healer and at least 50% of the matches involve a smurf who completely stomp either team or intentionally feed to get a loss.” The post wraps up by saying the player, who has just come back to the game after a two-year break, has uninstalled Overwatch. Others in the comments feel much the same way.

One commenter wrote, “Yup, today I’ve played two games against a Mei player that kept jumping of the map. And he was like: ‘I just want to derank guys xD.'” In response to this, very much echoing the thoughts of many on the thread, one person simply stated, “Report and move along.”

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While reporting is a great way to catch these smurf players, they will inevitably continue to play a role in games at lower ranks as long as players are easily able to make multiple accounts. It is a part of nearly every competitive game on the market. In the face of that, players can only do their best to stay positive, report problems they see and try their hardest not to contribute to the problems themselves.