Overwatch 2 players hit out at streamers for “normalizing” smurfing
Sony Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Blizzard EntertainmentSmurfing is a prevalent issue in Overwatch 2. Despite constant complaints from the community, it continues to happen on a daily basis, and fans want content creators to stop.
A trend in recent years has been the concept of smurfing in which a higher-skilled player starts a new account and works their way up to one of the game’s top ranks – if not, the top rank. Overwatch 2 is another example of an online multiplayer title that has fallen foul of this controversial practice.
Content creators are avid users of smurfing as the audience gets to experience their journey to the top. It does, however, come at the expense of lesser-skilled players who will endure miserable games against players they have no right to be in a lobby with.
The practice is looked down upon in the Overwatch 2 community – as well as many other communities – and the playerbase is tired of top personalities exploiting casual players.
Smurfing continues to run rife in Blizzard’s Overwatch 2
“Why is smurfing so normalized in Overwatch?” asked one OW2 Reddit post, and the question is probably on the minds of many players. They explained: “The amount of YouTubers and streamers I see doing an Unranked/Bronze to GM [Grandmaster] is insane. I don’t think it’s fun to be going against people way above your rank or skill level.”
This is exactly what many YouTubers and streamers on Twitch and Kick end up doing as their loyal fans obviously enjoy watching their favorite personalities performing well – despite the unbalanced circumstances.
As one user explained, the actual Overwatch 2 community doesn’t enjoy it: “It’s always the same when you point it out. Guy is popping off. 5 hours on account. Call him a smurf. “My main is T500 bro”. Well good for you buddy. Why don’t you go play on your T500 account instead of making it insufferable for us lower-skilled players looking to play f**king quick play. The streamers and YouTubers who hide behind the “road to T500″ or whatever goal they set to justify their smurf account are insufferable. You just want to stomp. No coaching.”
Sadly though, it doesn’t seem like the practice will stop anytime soon as the content is fueled by one obvious incentive – money. “I don’t think you understand how much money these hours-long u2gm [Unranked to Grandmaster] videos make. People say it’s educational, but there are alternatives like thinking out loud as a GM/T500,” said one Reddit user.
One Overwatch 2 user went as far as calling out the streamer’s methods: “They’ve tricked a large portion of players into thinking it’s actually okay and a Bronze player against GM is a ‘learning experience’.”
Interestingly, the devs themselves have previously called out streamers and content creators, asking them to stop as it’s the ‘bane of their existence’. This would maybe suggest that Blizzard has no control over this, and so the smurfing problem may never actually go away.
