Overwatch Is Utilizing Machine Learning To Combat Chat Toxicity – IAM Network

A game as popular as Overwatch can attract nearly any kind of player, with each occupying the same shared virtual space in which they all attempt to enjoy the same team-based shooter experience. That same accessibility, however, tends to place people with different ideas as to how the game should be played, and has warranted Overwatch adopting a new machine-based learning algorithm to better recognize, address, and punish the occasional heated grinding of opinions. While hardly unique to Overwatch, the issue of player toxicity manifesting in insults aimed at either team and griefing can ruin an otherwise enjoyable round or at worst make someone not want to play the game at all, as many fans of games like Overwatch, League of Legends, CS:GO, and countless other examples can attest. The implementation of a sort of virtual referee in the form of an algorithm generated from reports on toxic behavior has been the go-to for Overwatch developer Blizzard across several of its games and has the data to back up its efficacy. Initially tested in Overwatch and Heroes of the Storm, Blizzard's in-house machine learning AI aims to be more than an …