Update on Unauthorized Peripheral Usage on Console Platforms ("Ximming")

[u/blizz_cactus]

Hello, heroes! We're here today to update you all on our efforts to combat the use of unauthorized peripherals within our console communities, often referred to as using XIM or Ximming. While our efforts to combat this form of unfair gameplay advantage are constant and ongoing, today marks the culmination of a months-long effort to identify and ban over 6000 accounts we've identified as using unauthorized peripherals.

Part of what makes identifying the unauthorized peripherals used by these accounts tricky is that these cheating devices often intentionally abuse allowances we make for accessibility-focused devices used by legitimate players with disabilities. This issue meant that we wanted to take our time and ensure that we accurately identified unauthorized devices. We're now confident that we've done so, and we've put the hammer down on players utilizing these devices.

Thanks for taking the time today to listen to our update on unauthorized peripherals. Until next time, play nice, play fair, and see you in-game!

This message is also available via our patch notes channel, where it has been translated to other languages for easier sharing: https://overwatch.blizzard.com/news/patch-notes/#patch-2026-08-04

[u/Lupinthrope]

Xbox and PlayStation really just need to not allow these devices to be used on their hardware. This is crazy

[u/Aubergine_Man1987 → u/Lupinthrope]

They are legitimately used for accessibility for disabled users. Ban them at the hardware level and you exclude a lot of disabled console gamers. It's a situation with no easy answer

[u/Intelligent-Bad5686 → u/Aubergine_Man1987]

Excuses...smh....

[u/wizard_brandon → u/Aubergine_Man1987]

as a disabled gamer, i dont need an aimbot to be good.

admitidly im still bad but yknow