Blizzard Entertainment's Overwatch 2 has become one of the leading free-to-play FPS games, but with its success comes the inevitable problem of cheaters and toxic players.

To tackle this issue, Blizzard developed the Defense Matrix Initiative (DMI), an in-house matrix aimed at making the game fair, friendly, and more inclusive for everyone.

Recently, Blizzard shared an update on the DMI in an official blog post, revealing that over 100,000 cheaters had been banned in Overwatch 2 since DMI's inception in October 2022.

The bans were issued to players caught using a variety of hacks, including aimbots, wallhacks, and teaming up unfairly.

Blizzard takes a strict stance on hacking, with most hackers being permanently banned. With its ongoing efforts to stop the rampant growth of hackers, the company has been banning up to 5,000 accounts every week.

To try and create a safe and friendly environment for social interactions, the DMI also focuses on detecting disruptive voice audio and warning players of their actions. This technology helps prevent further bad-mouthing and encourages players to adjust their behavior.

"In many cases, players don't realize how they communicate to their teammates can be disruptive and immediately correct their behavior after receiving a warning," says Blizzard Entertainment.

The developers are pleased with the technology's success and plan to deploy it in more regions and languages in the coming months.

While hackers will always be an issue in online games, Blizzard encourages players to report suspected cheaters in order to help get rid of them.

In addition to banning players, Blizzard is also directly confronting unauthorized cheats and their usage in Overwatch 2, though they did not elaborate on the specific measures being taken.

If Blizzard Entertainment continues to provide coherent support and consistently gets rid of cheaters in Overwatch 2, the game could last for years.