Overwatch 2 testing live audio transcription

Blizzard says it’s testing a new audio transcription feature for its games, in an effort to identify and act on harmful behaviour as it happens

Overwatch 2 developer Blizzard has announced that it’s trialling a live audio transcription feature on its PC client, in what it says is an effort to identify harmful behaviour as it happens.

A patch notes blog posted to the Overwatch news section of the Blizzard website has detailed the new part of what it calls its Defense Matrix Initiative. The audio transcription feature has started rolling out to a select number of PC players in certain countries, but it will only apply to public voice channels.

Overwatch 2 has come under some fire for its monetisation since going free-to-play. Picture: Blizzard Entertainment

Blizzard says that it will be using speech-to-text programs to analyse the audio sent to the servers when a player reports another player for problematic behaviour in voice chat. Blizzard recommends that players report others as close to the offending behaviour as possible, so the system has the best chance to pick it up properly.

Players included in the trial will reportedly see a notification the first time they enter a voice chat with the feature active. Blizzard says that nobody will listen to the audio recording, which is quickly deleted after being transcribed, and that the transcriptions will only be used to identify problem behaviour.

The latest patch also brings a host of new changes and updates to the game, including a change to how aim assist applies to crossplay matches. According to the blog, Blizzard’s player data showed that many crossplay groups were across PC and console players, which could lead to a poor experience for some console players. To remedy this, the company has turned on aim assist for all crossplay parties except in competitive mode.

A new hero will be added to Overwatch 2 in early December, a Tank hero called Ramattra. Picture: Blizzard Entertainment

The Overwatch 2 bug fix patch was delayed recently after a critical issue was discovered. It was initially intended to launch on the 15th, but a last-second delay saw it moved to the 17th in order to address the issue.

The patch seeks to address the issue of an Overwatch 2 hero being disabled over a different game-breaking exploit. In that case, hero Mei was able to use her Ice Wall ability to push other characters out-of-bounds, offering an unfair advantage to teams who had picked her.

Written by Oliver Brandt on behalf of GLHF.