Xbox players are being disconnected and even sometimes banned from Overwatch 2 for earning achievements.
That's according to players flocking to the shooter's subreddit, who are saying that not only are they losing progress each time it happens, but they're also being erroneously marked as quitters, too, and even getting temporary bans.
"I'm seriously getting tired of waiting 30 minutes to log in, playing three matches, then getting another random Xbox achievement and the game telling me I'm already logged in before sending me back to the login screen," explained one player.
"I've been enjoying the game, but the fact I'm spending more time doing other stuff waiting to get in [than] actually playing, and then getting kicked out because of a bug is becoming incredibly annoying."
anyone_else_dc_after_getting_an_achievement from r/Overwatch
Crossplay in Overwatch 2 means PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and PlayStation players can all play together, until the Xbox player gets an achievement
"Turn Xbox notifications off. Getting an achievement kicks you out of Overwatch," suggested another commenter. "To stop this, turn off [all] Xbox notifications". Sadly, though, this doesn't seem to solve the issue for all players.
"It happened to me, except I didn't even get to play," opined another. "'Decked Out unlocked the moment I got in due to account merge, immediately kicked out lol."
At the time of writing, neither Blizzard nor Xbox have publicly acknowledged the issue nor offered a fix.
Overwatch 2 is a free-to-play sequel to 2016's popular, team-based hero shooter Overwatch although it's more a big update than it is a full sequel. It also entirely replaces Overwatch 1, so old players that already own Overwatch 1 will be forced to update to Overwatch 2 and new players will only be able to play this version of the game.
Just days after Overwatch 2's release, Blizzard was forced to walk back a decision that barred players with prepaid or VOIP phone numbers from signing up to play (something that will still affect Modern Warfare 2 players, it seems).
Overwatch 2's mobile verification system was already causing a headache for some players ahead of launch, but the problem was exacerbated during launch with the realization that Blizzard didn't accept pre-paid or shared phone numbers. Despite the game's free-to-play status, that all-but locked out younger players or those who might not be able to afford a long-term monthly contract.
Blizzard later updated players about some of the bigger issues that players have faced over the past couple of days, including the controversial SMS Protect feature. Although intended to combat negative behavior by holding toxic players to account, Blizzard now says that it has "made the decision to remove phone number requirements".
If you're looking at a loading screen because you've just been booted out for getting an achievement, why not read through our Overwatch 2 tier list or our Overwatch 2 Tank tier list to see who the best characters are.
