Overwatch Hackers Are Freezing Player Games Mid-Match

Overwatch hackers have been freezing games to make players lose Skill Rating (SR).

A new method of cheating is being used by Overwatch hackers that is resulting in player screens being frozen whilst the hackers continue to operate. Their new method causes chats to be cleared and games to crash, whilst they aim-hack their way to an easy win.

Normal players often coordinate with the teams to bring the match to a draw if a cheater is spotted in the game. Players don't gain or lose any SR when a match draws, making it the most reasonable way to deal with a hacked game. Despite these attempts at mediation, hackers now intentionally crash the opposing players game. This means that even if players agree to draw, a crashed game causes players to leave the match. Players automatically lose 50 SR when leaving a match.

A Reddit user, BurritoBashr, found this out the hard way when their team encountered a hacking Widowmaker on the enemy team. BurritoBashr and their team agreed to bring the match to a draw but soon after they noticed that chat had been cleared. A player repeatedly joining the match then causes BurritoBashr screen to freeze, preventing them from moving their character and eventually crashing the game.

In the thread, BurritoBashr posted a link to the hacker's POV. The clip shows the hacker being able to move without issue whilst the other players continuously struggle.

Hackers might be less prominent in Overwatch than in other competitive games, but for those who are unlucky enough to encounter one it can be a frustrating experience. No mention of a fix has come from Blizzard just yet. Hopefully one can be found before clean games become a rarity.