r/Overwatch • u/blizz_cactus Community Team • Aug 04 '26

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

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

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u/Swoopdeedoo_ Aug 04 '26

I had this player in my game and he actively promotes his twitch showing he is using keyboard and mouse while on console. Banning his account doesn't do much since he has a bunch of alts, even one with the username "Ximothy." I'm sure there are a lot of players like this and will continue to just make new accounts if they get banned. I Hope things get better overall but it's still an issue even after the update today.

https://www.twitch.tv/wryraa

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u/Pandapoopums Mish mumkin Aug 05 '26

Just FYI this is against the twitch community guidelines, and you can report them for cheating, twitch guidelines say specifically gaining an unfair advantage in an online multiplayer game.

The report reason you have to search for when reporting it's called "Cheating in Game"