Some Overwatch 2 players are reporting that they have received a login message mentioning that their “Voice chat may be recorded to investigate and verify reports of disruptive behavior.”
For those wondering what this is and why they’re receiving it, here’s a breakdown of everything you need to know about the “Voice chat may be recorded to investigate” message in Overwatch 2.
Ultimately, it is no coincidence that players may be receiving this message as this is an intended announcement by Blizzard.
As revealed weeks before the launch of Overwatch 2, part of Blizzard’s new Defense Matrix anti-toxicity initiative is the rollout of an audio transcription feature that allows the devs to collect a temporary voice chat recording of a reported player and automatically transcribe it through speech-to-text programs. Once the audio recording has been transcribed to text, it’s quickly analyzed for disruptive behavior and said to be deleted no later than 30 days after.
Per Blizzard, the system relies on players reporting disruptive behavior as soon as they encounter it in-game because it does not store voice chat data long-term.
The reason why this message is just starting to appear for players, however, is because Blizzard has just begun implementing the audio transcription feature in-game with a limited rollout for PC players in “select countries” — as mentioned in the Season 1 Mid-Cycle Patch Notes.
As such, the message is pretty much just a general disclaimer warning.
