Overwatch League Releases Code of Conduct and Rules of Competition

By Nicholas Barth ·

Today, Blizzard's Overwatch League released a summary of their code of conduct guidelines and rules of competition for all of the community to see.

Overwatch League Releases Code of Conduct and Rules of Competition

The Overwatch League has had a great deal of success, so far in its inaugural season, but there have been a couple of public mistakes by players and team staff regarding their conduct in and out of competition. The three major incidents included Dallas Fuel player Félix "xQc" Lengyel making a homophobic comment towards another player on his personal stream, Houston Outlaws coach Tae-yeong ‘TaiRong’ Kim posting an inappropriate tweet referencing the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II, and London Spitfire player Joon-yeong "Profit" Park giving the middle finger live to the camera during a match for thousands to see.  

Wanting to make sure their rules and expectations are made clear, the Overwatch League released a summary of their code of conduct and rules of competition handbook to the public today.  

The xQc incident was the first of public incidents that did not put the Overwatch League in a good light.

The xQc incident was the first of three public incidents that did not put the Overwatch League in a good light.

Source: Robert Paul via Blizzard Entertainment

In the announcement, the league made clear what the objectives of the code of conduct are.  

"The Code of Conduct is designed to ensure the integrity of the game; to safeguard the public image of the league, its players, teams, and owners; and to provide a competitive game environment that is free from harassment and discrimination." 

The league highlighted eight areas of the code of conduct that all team members and owners must abide by: 

  • "observe the highest standards of personal integrity and good sportsmanship; 
  • "compete to the best of their skill and ability at all times;" 
  • "comply with all applicable laws at all times;" 
  • "not engage in any activity or practice which brings him or her into public disrepute or scandal;" 
  • "not engage in any form of harassment or discrimination;" 
  • "not place bets on any games, matches, or tournaments involving Overwatch;" 
  • "not make any false, defamatory, libelous, or slanderous remarks, comments, or statements; and" 
  • "not use or attempt to use any bugs or exploits in Overwatch." 

Also included in the announcement, the league stated that they have a "broad discretion to investigate alleged violations of the Official Rules and to impose discipline for any violations." A list of possible disciplinary actions were listed, such as "informal or formal warnings, public reprimands, fines, suspensions, and permanent bans." 

With the code of conduct and rules of competition clearly defined and outlined, the Overwatch League can look to eliminate the kind of negative incidents that occurred throughout Stage 1.