In a recent Twitch clip, Tyler1 is shown celebrating Blizzard seemingly removing his remaining five years of being banned from Overwatch 2 chat. Tyler1 is known for being a controversial figure in streaming, but while he's still boisterous he has worked hard to turn a new leaf. His past actions caught up with him when he decided to try Overwatch 2, however, as a 10-year ban on text and voice chat remained in place.
This past week, Tyler1 started up Overwatch 2 only to notice a system message from Blizzard in his text chat. Showing the message to his Twitch chat, it revealed that Tyler1 had a lingering chat ban from the original Overwatch that still had five years left remaining on it. Tyler1 admitted it was earned and deserved, and it stemmed from shortly after launch in 2016. Tyler1 insulted his teammates and Blizzard, knowing his poor reputation from League of Legends, chat banned him instead of fully banning him. An extra year was later added due to a Blizzard bug.
The latest Twitch clip (profanity warning) from Tyler1 has the streamer casting off his sadness over still being chat banned and celebrating. The clip shows Tyler1 trying to talk to his teammates, asking, "Can you hear me?" At this point, Tyler1 already knows the answer. He's sent several messages in text without being blocked. But he wants to hear his teammates confirm it. They eventually say they can hear him and Tyler1 excitedly yells at them to group up. His chat ban had been lifted.
While there's no explicit mention from Blizzard that it unbanned Tyler1, its decision is now obvious given Tyler1 has free access to communication features in Overwatch 2. Tyler1 is a very popular streamer, and his 10-year ban from chat wasn't wholly earned. Perhaps Blizzard reevaluated once it saw the Twitch streamer was trying out Overwatch 2, or perhaps there was an executive call within the development team.
There are already some frustrated comments from within the Overwatch community that dislike Tyler1 getting special treatment. They do have a point, especially given Tyler1's behavior isn't wholly improved. If Twitch streams can insult and use expletives toward their teammates and not be punished, then Blizzard isn't actually holding itself to its own rules.
Overwatch 2, like Overwatch, is already being heavily criticized for not taking a harsher stance toward harassment and abuse among its players. Blizzard made a big deal out of new moderation tools that are built to handle abuse in voice chat, but many Overwatch 2 player have likely had a game where they've been insulted by a teammate already. That's not to say Tyler1 being unbanned will change that, or that he'll even be a problem going forward, but it adds to an already complex situation. Tyler 1 and his fans on Twitch will certainly be happy, though.
Overwatch 2 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.