OW2 FPL Rules

Why FPL?

The mission of FPL is to empower the Overwatch 2 ecosystem by creating a better multiplayer experience for top-tier, upcoming players and legends where they can practice, socialize and thrive.

In order to achieve our mission, we look to:

• Provide a highly competitive environment and a moderated solo queue for the top-tier players to socialize and practice.
• Improve discovery, development, and promotion of new talents within the Overwatch 2 scene. 
• Engage top-tier players to interact more with each other, building a solid network and new storylines.
• Encourage live streaming content around competitive Overwatch, to teach/evangelize the community about playing competitively

FPL Official Rules

The rule list we are publishing today has been written together by the FPL players and the FPL Staff. Starting from February 27, 2025, we will ensure to uphold them across all the FPL Leagues. 

Match integrity

Match integrity has to be upheld by each player; failing to do so will result in direct removal from FPL along with a 2 year ban from all FPL competition and an investigation opened at the platform level.

Rules

• No cheating
• No bug abuse (In case a bug is discovered, we will give everyone an opportunity to report it to the FPL Staff)
• No match-fixing
• No stream sniping
• Any behavior that puts you in an unfairly advantageous position and breaks the integrity of the match (Giving information to the enemy player, being in the same voice channel as the enemy, etc.)

Sportsmanship

We expect every player to show an example of how sportsmanlike behavior should look, whether you are a top-tier player or an aspiring player who wants to become a top-tier player one day. Every player wants their matches to have excellent communication, great teamwork, and significant social experience.

Rule violation

Warnings - Players will be given a warning for a rule violation which may or may not result in a ban. FPL staff will use a player’s prior record in decision-making on bans and removals.

Rules

• No toxicity - We don’t take into account friendly banter between players, however crossing a line with players that do not see it as friendly banter and report you will result in a warning
• English only - To play Overwatch at the highest level, you need excellent team communication. FPL is a community of players coming from all parts of the world, and we understand some players find it easier to communicate in their own language. However, the official language of FPL is English, and we expect everyone to uphold this during every match in FPL. The only exception to this rule is if your team has 5 players speaking the same non-English language (E.g. 5 Swedish players in a team can speak Swedish). In any other scenario, everyone has to speak the English language, and we will give warnings for not following this rule.
• No silent communication - Everyone has to be on Teamspeak/Discord and use their microphone to communicate with each other. We understand that players might sometimes tilt and prefer not to speak. However, if you stop communicating, you are effectively destroying your team’s chances of winning.
• Always play to win - Players are expected to consistently compete at the best of their ability during the FPL matches. If you do not do that, you are letting down your teammates and exhibiting behavior that no top-tier player should ever do. Always play to win. (E.g. Playing FPL under any substance, teamkilling/griefing, throwing on purpose, going AFK, focusing on stream chat and not the game etc.)

Feedback on rules and suggestions

These rules have been created together with the players. Using the same approach, every player is welcome to give any feedback or ideas on how we can improve the rules to create an even better experience for all the players. While, as league staff, we have to create and uphold these rules, we are more than happy to keep the doors to players to help us evolve them in the direction that is best for everyone, which allows us to fulfill the mission of FPL - create the best multiplayer experience for the players and empower the Overwatch ecosystem.

LEADERBOARD / PRIZE TIEBREAKER

In case of a tiebreaker on the leaderboards at the end of the season, we will apply the following logic to determine who gets a higher placement:

The player with the higher number of matches played will take the higher placement. If players have equal matches played, we will look at Win%, and the player with a higher Win% will take the higher placement. If players are tied in all of the above-mentioned aspects ( Points, number of matches played, and Win% ), the prize money of the tied positions will be summed together, and then equally divided among each player.

PRIZEPOOL REQUIREMENTS + STIPENDS

In Overwatch 2 FPL, a player must have a minimum of 10 games during each weekly leaderboard, 15 games played during each bi-weekly leaderboard season or 30 games played during a monthly leaderboard season in order to be eligible for prize money . The prize money will be forfeited if a player does not have the required amount of games played in a leaderboard season the prize money is forfeited. Prizes will NOT be redistributed to the lower placings at this time. In terms of stipends given to players, those players awarded need to have at least 10 matches played during the month to be eligible to receive the stipend.

Due to the current SWIFT sanctions on Russian banks, Russian players will not be eligible to win prizes from the FPL leaderboards for the time being. We will automatically award prizes only to eligible players on the leaderboard. We’ll provide an update on this if this is to change in the future.

TECHNICAL ISSUES: OVERWATCH

Technical problems / Player disconnect

Players must pause the match if there is a technical problem or a player disconnects. (if needed, both team pauses must be used) and contact one of the admins on duty. If the disconnected player is missing for more than 10 minutes, has not tried to reconnect or contacts admins, and there are less than 10 rounds played, then the match will be canceled only if the score/result difference is less than five (5) rounds.

If there are 10 or more rounds already played on the server, the match will not be canceled, and it has to be played and finished. The only exception to this rule is if both teams agree together with the admin to cancel the game. Players are not allowed to unpause the game on their own discretion before both teams confirm and agree that they are ready to continue the match.

Default system/hub cooldowns:

• Player failed to join match (AFK ) - 24 hours cooldown 
• Captain failed to pick players - 3-minute cooldown 
• The Player failed to accept the match - 3-minute cooldown 
• Player left match (Leaver) - 24 hour cooldown 

Cooldowns given by the system automatically will not be removed, and players must wait until the cooldown expires in order to be able to play again. The only exception to this rule is if there is a major outage on a steam platform or FACEIT website

Some of the examples of situations when the cooldown is not removed:

• Internet issues or outages.
• Power issues or outages.
• The Player has to leave the match due to an unexpected event.
• Computer-related issues.

Ban lengths for broken rules

Not all bans are mentioned.

• Toxicity: 3 days - 3 months
• Griefing: 3 days - 3 months
• Racism/Discrimination/Xenophobia: 3 months - permanent
• Match-fixing: 2 years minimum
• Cheating: 2 years minimum
• Disrespecting FPL Staff: 1 day - 3 months
• Misconduct/Inappropriate Behavior: 3 days - 3 months
• Harassment: 7 days - 3 months
• Pause Abuse: 1 day - 7 days

Ban lengths are subject to change based on the decision of the FPL Staff

OW2 Game Specific Rules

Available Map and Mode Pool

The maps and modes pool for use in any OWCS associated competition are listed below. The current maps and mode list are as follows:

• Control: Lijiang Tower, Nepal, Samoa
• Hybrid/Flashpoint: Blizzard World, Eichenwalde, Numbani, Suravasa
• Push: Colosseo, Esperança
• Escort: Route 66, Dorado, Havana

Maps and game modes will be randomly selected for each FPL match.

Hero Bans

During the voting phase, team captains are able to ban 1 hero per team. 

Cheating Reports

Cheating reports are handled in a three step process.

Step One: If you are convinced there is a player who is cheating, create a report using the FPL Discord to bring it to the attention of League Operations. Please provide as much detail as possible including but not limited to vods and clips.

Step Two: League Operations will review the report. If it is determined that the player may be cheating, we will proceed to step three, otherwise the report will be closed.

Step Three: League Operations will forward all relevant information directly to Blizzard for further investigation.

One Trick Penalties

A player may be considered a one trick if the following criteria are met:

• Players play one hero more than 70% of the time
• Players performance drops off significantly when playing other heroes.

Players are encouraged to hone their skills using multiple heroes. Those who meet the one trick criteria may be removed from the hub.