Overwatch League recently announced a discipline tracker for the upcoming season. The tracker, which can be found on the Overwatch League website, will be updated throughout the season with player infractions as well as the sentences levied against them. With the recent cause for concern regarding players boosting, it’s no surprise the League will begin to track player conduct and make it available to the fanbase. Most, if not all, professional sports already do this, where players receive disciplinary hearings and fines/suspensions for their actions in-game, which then becomes public knowledge. Though the season isn’t even underway yet, seven players have already found themselves in the League’s proverbial doghouse, most, unsurprisingly, for boosting.
Damon “Apply” Conti of the Florida Mayhem, Kelsey “Colourhex” Birse of the Boston Uprising, and MinKi “Violet” Park of the San Fransisco Shock have all received two-game suspensions for boosting, with Shilong “Krystal” Cai of the Hangzhou Spark being suspended one game for boosting. Other players have received more serious action taken against them, such as Won-Jae “Rise” Lee of the Guangzhou Charge being fined $1,000 for account sharing and Riku “Ripa” Toivanen of the Los Angeles Gladiators suspended five games for throwing matches and overall toxicity. Though not explicitly stated, it can be assumed that the suspensions will take effect from day one of Season 2 on February 14, 2019.
Players will be held to the Rules of Competition and Code of Conduct just like last season. The announcement also made mention that any players entering the League will be subject to “a full review of their conduct,” with disciplinary action taken as needed. Obviously, players who violate the rules during the season will also be held to the same standards of discipline. Players not currently under contract are not subject to review or discipline but will be reevaluated upon reentry to the League.
The Overwatch League plans to handle discipline separate from Contenders, stating, “players who have previously served penalties while playing in Contenders are generally not subject to further discipline upon joining the Overwatch League.”