Overwatch developer Blizzard has confirmed that a disconnection bug was discovered. The patch however, may take less than a month to fix.

Overwatch Players' Complaint on Disconnection Issues

Blizzard has imposed some stiff penalties to Overwatch leavers, those that disconnects whether intentional or not. The sanctions can range from time penalty and XP points deduction. Repeat offenders can also get banned temporarily or permanently from the Overwatch competitive play.

The heavy penalty was designed to discourage Overwatch players from deliberately leaving the competitive match if they sense that their team is losing. However, it also punishes players who like to compete in the matches but are hampered by slow internet connection.

Overwatch Disconnection Bug and Its Implication

A growing number of Overwatch players complained that they could no longer return to the matches once they get disconnected to the Blizzard game servers. A lot of them got a temporary ban and certain deductions from their skill ratings (SR).

Finally, Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan posted a reply on the official blog. He admitted that his team discovered a disconnection bug hidden in the game. Kaplan gave assurances that they are working on a solution for it. However, he could not give an exact ETA for the fix although it might take them at most, three weeks to patch up.

Kaplan also mentioned the possibility of giving disconnected players some buffer time in order to return their matches without the threat of penalty. Such notion however, can only be implemented once the disconnection bug has been removed from the Overwatch competitive play.

Blizzard's admission that there are disconnection issues in Overwatch seems like a vindication to many players. But the length of time to patch the bug has also irritated a lot of Overwatch players as well. Some are contemplating of staying out of the competitive play until the fix is implemented.