Overwatch 2 ‘applying update’ bug bans player from ranked for the entire Season

An Overwatch 2 bug has caused an unlucky player to get banned from Ranked throughout Season 4.

The ‘applying update’ bug has persisted since Overwatch 2 launched in October 2022. The glitch results in players being stuck on an ‘applying update’ screen – which may force them to restart the game. Despite the longstanding issue, devs have not fixed the annoying error.

In addition to restarting the game, the bothersome glitch produced other unfortunate consequences. In one instance, the ‘applying update’ issue prohibited one player from participating in Season 4 Ranked matches.

Overwatch 2 ‘applying update’ glitch causes player’s ban from Ranked

Blizzard Entertainment

On the Overwatch subreddit, Reddit user ytternoah explained why the game banned him from the entire Season. The player claimed the ‘applying update’ bug prevented him from joining Ranked matches throughout Season 4.

“How have they not fixed this yet?” DrDerpologist asked. “First game of ranked today and this happened to my teammate. It’s unplayable right now.”

“They are going to have to unban everyone that quit or disconnected from this,” FoxFireLyre suggested. “It’s horse**** to be banned from an entire season for their bug.”

Applying Update bug just got me banned for the whole of season 4 by u/ytternoah in Overwatch

In the comment section, a community manager for Blizzard Entertainment discussed the situation. “We’ll look into getting this fixed, but we’ll need time to address any Competitive Play bans that may have resulted from this error,” Blizz_Craig wrote.

Blizz_Craig couldn’t give an estimated arrival date for the bug’s fix but offered a workaround in the meantime. The community manager suggested going into the Practice Range each time after logging into Overwatch 2.

“Once you successfully load into the Practice Range, you can leave it and queue for any game mode, but be sure to do this each time you log in to be safe,” Blizz_Craig said.

If you’re lucky enough to avoid the ‘applying update’ glitch, check out everything Season 4 offers regarding updated maps and skill tier changes.