Overwatch 2 devs say they can “do better” as “sexual harassment simulator” reappears

The Overwatch 2 developers have admitted that they can “do better” after a controversial custom mode reappeared on the game browser.

Overwatch 2’s custom games have been causing a bit of drama since the Workshop was implemented with some players creating modes that aren’t exactly safe for all ages.

While Workshop creators have designed plenty of quality aim trainers and other fun game types, it’s spawned some controversial modes too.

Infamously, the “sexual harassment simulator” causes quite a stir and rattles the community whenever it pops up. This was the case on July 10 when the mode reemerged, resulting in plenty of reports and eventually even the developers chiming in.

Overwatch 2 devs respond to “sexual harassment simulator” game mode

On social media, a screen grab showing off the controversial mode began making waves with many players revealing they had reported it.

A day later, Executive Producer Jared Neuss responded, confirming that the mode had been taken down yet again.

“We’ll keep working to keep garbage like this out of the game,” he said.

However, when pressed about why the team hadn’t banned certain phrases to ensure that the sexual harassment simulator wouldn’t be allowed back, the Blizzard dev revealed that it’s a lot more complicated than it seems.

“It isn’t quite as easy as exclusion lists for specific terms (which can be circumvented a number of ways),” he said, ruling out the possibility of a blacklist being enough to prevent the mode from coming back.

That said, he went on to add that the team “can certainly do better here,” so it seems like extra steps may be being taken to stop the mode from returning yet again.

Hopefully, these issues can be rectified quickly and players can continue to browse custom games without coming across the “sexual harassment simulator.”