Blizzard hopes to improve the quality of 'Overwatch' esports chats
It wants a positive Twitch audience in addition to positive players.
Blizzard isn't just interested in improving the professionalism of its players... it wants to improve the experience for the audience, too. The developer is testing a chat moderation system for its Overwatch Contenders feeder league that will require linking your chat in the Twitch channel to your Battle.net account. While it's not clear how this will clean things up, it's implied that unruly behavior in Twitch chat could have ramifications for your Battle.net standing. You'll want to be polite while you cheer on would-be pros, then.
The trial started alongside the Season 3 quarterfinals on December 28th and will continue until the round's end on January 12th. After that, the Contenders team will study the "overall effect" of the test run on positivity in the channel.
This lightens the moderation load for Blizzard, of course, but it could also play an important part in Blizzard's effort to take Overwatch esports into the mainstream. A more professional atmosphere could help it obtain a wider audience (not to mention big-name advertising) that might be put off by toxic activity.
