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Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony pledge to make gaming ‘safer’ together

The three companies release a joint statement

www.polygon.com

The video gaming industry’s top three console makers — Microsoft, Sony Interactive Entertainment, and Nintendo — are pledging together to make gaming “safer,” according to a news release published Monday.

The three companies released a statement, published on Microsoft’s Xbox Wire, outlining the new initiative to protect their “youngest and most vulnerable players.” The pledge lacks specific steps toward this goal; instead, is focusing on the “principles” that guide the program.
For example, the joint statement highlights principles that include:

We believe that hate and harassment or exploitation of younger players in any way have no place in gaming. We partner with our community to promote safe gaming behavior and encourage the use of reporting tools to call out bad actors.

and:

We comply with all local laws and will respond to all lawful requests from law enforcement. We promptly notify law enforcement if we observe unlawful conduct or where we believe a player is at risk of imminent harm.

“At Xbox, we are aligned with both Nintendo, on behalf of the community of Nintendo Switch players, and PlayStation in our belief that protecting players online requires a multidisciplinary approach — one that combines the benefits of advanced technology, a supportive community, and skilled human oversight,” Dave McCarthy, corporate vice president of Xbox operations, said. “We can accomplish more when we work toward the same goal, and so we will each continue investing in, evolving, and amplifying our approaches to user safety. As we continue this work, we will prioritize protecting the safety of our players, especially those most vulnerable.”

The principles outline “prevention, partnership, and responsibility” — including pledges to help parents understand video game safety tools, “partnering with the industry, regulators, law enforcement, and our communities,” and making sure players can report bad behavior. The full statement is available on the Xbox Wire.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Sounds like 80% PR pandering and 20% online lockdown initiative, which I guess is not unique to these three companies.

Call someone's mother a name online and you might get banned. Sorry, but you're making the "online community" less safe.

 

[Chiggs]

Sounds like 80% PR pandering and 20% online lockdown initiative, which I guess is not unique to these three companies.

Call someone's mother a name online and you might get banned. Sorry, but you're making the "online community" less safe.

First post nails it.

Side note: so glad Xbox can work with Sony and Nintendo in order to feel like they belong.

 

[cryptoadam]

But we do not pledge to do anything about the MTX that have invaded our systems. Keep kids safe from being told to that men have penises and women have vaginas. But make sure we hook em on gambling and suck the money straight out of their parents wallets.

 

[Potato Chip PRO]

Can all 3 survive MW2 lobbies though? That place made everyone grow a spine and thick skin.

 

[carlosrox]

Is this really a big issue or does it only affect like 1% of people?

 

[-Arcadia-]

See console warriors? All three of them are censorious soc jus assholes. No need to play sides beyond enjoying a good game here and there.

 

[Optimus Lime]

Oh good. Not content with bleeding all of the fun out of gaming via their horrifying, predatory business practices, they are now going to sanitise the culture by washing out dissent and ensuring absolute and total conformity, under the cover of 'safety'.

Funny, I remember when old women were trying to ban Judas Priest records in order to 'keep kids safe', too. Apparently, if little Timmy hears the word 'retard', or if someone says something dirty, the console manufacturers can now yank their access.

Fuck them, and fuck this. This utter bullshit makes PC gaming more valuable than ever before.

 

[InDaGulag]

But we do not pledge to do anything about the MTX that have invaded our systems

Huh? It's not like consoles don't have parental controls for nothing.

Keep kids safe from being told to that men have penises and women have vaginas.

Yeah this is totally what this policy is about. Not you know people telling kids to kill themselves, or trying to flirt with them.

Frankly kids spending so much time with adults online can be concerning at times. Sometimes kids need their own space separate from adults.

 

[Hawking Radiation]

 

[IntentionalPun]

But we do not pledge to do anything about the MTX that have invaded our systems. Keep kids safe from being told to that men have penises and women have vaginas. But make sure we hook em on gambling and suck the money straight out of their parents wallets.

Errr.. don't think any console doesn't have basic parental controls to make it so kids can't just spend money.

 

[Optimus Lime]

Frankly kids spending so much time with adults online can be concerning at times. Sometimes kids need their own space separate from adults.

Then their parents should be parents and keep them off the internet, and away from online gaming. The idea that we need to sanitise every single part of our fucking media because someone's shitty crotch goblins are demanding that they be there too is absurd.

Be a parent. Is your kiddie being told the rude words from the bad, bad men? Turn the fucking console off and tell them to go outside. Can't cope with that? Don't be a parent. You're useless.

 

[IntentionalPun]

Then their parents should be parents and keep them off the internet, and away from online gaming. The idea that we need to sanitise every single part of our fucking media because someone's shitty crotch goblins are demanding that they be there too is absurd.

Be a parent. Is your kiddie being told the rude words from the bad, bad men? Turn the fucking console off and tell them to go outside. Can't cope with that? Don't be a parent. You're useless.

These products sell to a lot of kids.

They want to keep these products selling to kids, so offer tools for parents to use and assurances that their is some concept of moderation going on.

Why are you so aggro about this? It's just companies selling what is basically a toy... of course it will have some kid-centric aspects to it.

 

[cryptoadam]

Errr.. don't think any console doesn't have basic parental controls to make it so kids can't just spend money.

Huh? It's not like consoles don't have parental controls for nothing.



Yeah this is totally what this policy is about. Not you know people telling kids to kill themselves, or trying to flirt with them.

Frankly kids spending so much time with adults online can be concerning at times. Sometimes kids need their own space separate from adults.

We will see, but i have a feeling this will shake out to where most of the focus will be on transphobia and systemic white racism and immigrants.

Anyways I remember when everyone mocked Nintendo for their online because of DA KIDS.

And sure MS puts on parental controls, but a much stronger stance would be to ban MTX from their games on their console. A horrible predatory practice that probably does more damage than kids hearing naughty words online. And if you go with that argument well there is mute options on these consoles. So why not just age protect online chatting and be done with it. If your under a certain age you can't chat online.

We will see but I doubt these companies all of a sudden grew a conscious and are all about the children now. This is coming off to me as more black square pandering and PR. While they will still allow ultra violent games and predatory gambling to go unchecked.

 

[Concern]

Reeee culture taking over


Its snowflake season

 

[M1chl]

Can all 3 survive MW2 lobbies though? That place made everyone grow a spine and thick skin.

Same people who are saying this shit has ungodly meltdowns when someone comes as trans or something like that. Because like being snowflake does not come with political affiliation.

And reverse is also true.

Not saying anything about you, MW2, Blops lobbies, best time of my life...not knowing much English, but after few months learning a lot : D This is what is gaming about. Fuck that Fortnite Toys'r'us shit.

 

[Mabdia]

More and more i see a PC as a better option. And I really hate play on PC. But on PC i jut buy whatever i want, i say whatever i want.

Nowadays, Steam looks better then Playstation, Nintendo and Xbox...

 

[MiyazakiHatesKojima]

 

[Craig of War]

Is this really a big issue or does it only affect like 1% of people?

The 1% are always the loudest so

 

[Bridges]

You can't even talk or send messages to people on Switch unless you've exchanged social security numbers and do the secret handshake so what exactly are they pledging to change on their end?

 

[GrayChild]

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

The "online community" should largely be organized by the community itself. Devs can provide tools and promotion, but otherwise a corporate-led community begets... this.

World of Warcraft was an interesting case study. If you're a paying customer but you're an asshole, you might still get removed from the game for the "good of the community experience". That was the canary in the coalmine, when companies began curating the community itself.

Good thing I've been building my local mp collection.

 

[Optimus Lime]

These products sell to a lot of kids.

They want to keep these products selling to kids, so offer tools for parents to use and assurances that their is some concept of moderation going on.

Why are you so aggro about this? It's just companies selling what is basically a toy... of course it will have some kid-centric aspects to it.

Our culture is increasingly infantilised and sanitised for children. Movies, television, music - children are the primary drivers of all of these industries now. You might think that's great. I disagree.

If Microsoft or Sony want to create products specifically aimed at children, they should do it. Make a Playstation that won't run Call Of Duty or GTA, and has heavily policed online aspects. They can create a child-focused SKU of the PS5 that keeps kids safe from microtransactions, onscreen violence and bloodshed, the horror of misgendering, or the cataclysmic nightmare of their kids being told to fuck off.

But, they won't though. Because, they don't actually give a shit about this stuff. For one thing, it would utterly fuck with their profit margins - they WANT kids stealing their parents Visa cards to buy moronic dances in their dumb live service shit. This is just first degree virtue signalling and corporate bullshit of the first degree. They want a license to monitor and suppress your speech - for the purposes of data harvesting, targeted advertising, and minimising their chances of lawsuits in our pathetically weak cultural environment when someone's idiot kid goes and necks themselves because xXSn1p0R-420Xx tells them to.

I guess you want to live in an environment which is 'kid friendly' at the expense of absolutely everything else. I disagree, and I find that position genuinely abhorrent.

 

[Evangelion Unit-01]

Unless I’m in party chat I don’t communicate outside of in game call outs. I’m never going to say or do anything offensive.

That said, there isn’t any reason to police language. The mute and block options exist for a reason. Use them and move on.

 

[tichamac]

More and more i see a PC as a better option. And I really hate play on PC. But on PC i jut buy whatever i want, i say whatever i want.

Nowadays, Steam looks better then Playstation, Nintendo and Xbox...

It's not like Steam is immune to this shit. It wasn't that long ago they put a "POC" supremacist version of the gay flag on their store front.

 

[intbal]

Who defines hate?

 

[IntentionalPun]

We will see, but i have a feeling this will shake out to where most of the focus will be on transphobia and systemic white racism and immigrants.

I mean..I don't think any of this is new for MS themselves, they already have moderation and whatnot... this blog post just indicates they are going to continue evolving and sharing with Sony/Nintendo.

And sure MS puts on parental controls, but a much stronger stance would be to ban MTX from their games on their console. A horrible predatory practice that probably does more damage than kids hearing naughty words online. And if you go with that argument well there is mute options on these consoles. So why not just age protect online chatting and be done with it. If your under a certain age you can't chat online.

Microsoft does allow you to age protect online chatting.

Don't you usually harp on "free markets"? How does that coincide with your view that companies should ban MTX?

 

[DonF]

It's just banter, bro. Wtf. Censoring is getting ridiculous.

 

[Potato Chip PRO]

Same people who are saying this shit has ungodly meltdowns when someone comes as trans or something like that. Because like being snowflake does not come with political affiliation.

And reverse is also true.

Not saying anything about you, MW2, Blops lobbies, best time of my life...not knowing much English, but after few months learning a lot : D This is what is gaming about. Fuck that Fortnite Toys'r'us shit.

Too be real, those lobbies were like a gold mine of entertainment. These days you can get banned for defending yourself which I have been 3 times unjustified. Xbox Live have gotten way to soft compared to 10 years ago.

 

[Heavy_D206]

Every time I play MW I still get called a "faggy little fuck boy" by some 12 year old sliding around with dual nightsticks and a riot shield, but I just tell him his parents never wanted him and he ruined all their hopes and dreams by surviving the abortion

 

[cryptoadam]

I mean..I don't think any of this is new for MS themselves, they already have moderation and whatnot... this blog post just indicates they are going to continue evolving and sharing with Sony/Nintendo.



Microsoft does allow you to age protect online chatting.

Don't you usually harp on "free markets"? How does that coincide with your view that companies should ban MTX?

I dont think I ever harped on "free markets".

All I am saying is this is pretty hollow move by them to virtue signal, while they turn a blind eye to what is actually harmful to children.

How about ban nothing and use the controls they already have in there without trying to act like its all about the kids.

I mean geeze again if MS/SONY/NINTENDO were really serious about this thats where they should start not making gaming "safer" together which is just a bunch of buzzwords thrown out.

We believe that hate and harassment or exploitation of younger players in any way have no place in gaming. We partner with our community to promote safe gaming behavior and encourage the use of reporting tools to call out bad actors.

So they have no actual goals/guidelines just that they want people to report naughty words. At least exploitation of younger players implies looking at predatory practices, but for some reason I doubt they are going to tell EA not to put MTX in their bball and football games.

But maybe they will prove me wrong and this won't turn into a witch hunt and will actually be something positive.

 

[carlosrox]

That said, there isn’t any reason to police language. The mute and block options exist for a reason. Use them and move on.

You know what, that simply makes too much sense and that is no longer allowed.

 

[carlosrox]

Double Post, fucking internet!

 

[IntentionalPun]

I guess you want to live in an environment which is 'kid friendly' at the expense of absolutely everything else. I disagree, and I find that position genuinely abhorrent.

I just don't particularly care either way; I don't have any interest in insulting people on my game console nor do I really care if it was totally unmoderated.

Finding it "abhorrent" to moderate online gaming is a bit much though lol

 

[Ten_Fold]

Man they should’ve did that during MW2 lobbies, holy shit I heard some racist words I never thought was racist it was actually pretty funny, maybe I think hearing racist shit, talking about mom fuckers is just funny as hell. Well I guess it’s for the better you know these kids are super depressed or some shit.

 

[Optimus Lime]

I just don't particularly care either way; I don't have any interest in insulting people on my game console nor do I really care if it was totally unmoderated.

Ah, yes. The old 'if you have nothing to hide, you shouldn't have anything to worry about' defense. Yeah, no. Sorry - that's bullshit.

Finding it "abhorrent" to moderate online gaming is a bit much though lol

I didn't say that. I said it was abhorrent to accept the hypocrisy of multinational corporations who do more to 'harm' young people with their ruthlessly predatory business practices, while attempting to engage in a censorious witch hunt concerning user content which - to any reasonable person with a functioning brain - should be the responsibility of the parents to moderate. If you don't want your kids hearing dirty words, don't put them in an environment where that might happen.

You'd get that if you'd read my post properly.

 

[Mabdia]

It's not like Steam is immune to this shit. It wasn't that long ago they put a "POC" supremacist version of the gay flag on their store front.

I know that steam is not perfect. But they are looking like a heaven when compared to PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo.

 

[Fake]

No need to play sides beyond enjoying a good game here and there.

Fight me. Here and now.

 

[InDaGulag]

Sorry to disappoint some console warriors here but... consoles are indeed toys. They're designed for entertainment. Nothing more.

While they may also sell these toys to adults, they would never want to have their brand so attached to things considered too mature for kids.

Getting people into your brand through parents buying a console for their kids at a formative early age is super important for them. The last thing they want is their brand to be associated with toxicity, death threats, pedos, and extreme political opinons. Families would leave their brand in drove.

All these companies only care about is money. Anything that threatens that must go. If hardcore gamer culture has become too toxic and threatens their profits then it will be pushed out.

 

[IntentionalPun]

Ah, yes. The old 'if you have nothing to hide, you shouldn't have anything to worry about' defense. Yeah, no. Sorry - that's bullshit.

That's not what I said.

You'd get that if you'd read my post properly.

The irony.

 

[Optimus Lime]

That's not what I said.

You said:

I don't have any interest in insulting people on my game console

Neither do I. Having a desire to insult people on your game console is utterly irrelevant, and is a defense of this nonsense. 'Why would I care, when I don't want to insult people on my game console?'.

The irony.

Indeed. It's delicious. Tell me more about your support of corporate censorship.

 

[IntentionalPun]

Neither do I. Having a desire to insult people on your game console is utterly irrelevant, and is a defense of this nonsense. 'Why would I care, when I don't want to insult people on my game console?'.

That wasn't a defense; just a personal reason why I don't particularly care. Who are you to tell me this is irrelevant.... to me?

Indeed. It's delicious. Tell me more about your support of corporate censorship.

I support a company's right to moderate the user content of it's services. That's it. Just like I support EviLore's right to moderate this forum; and if I ever decide I don't like their moderation, I'd leave the forum.

It could be completely unmoderated, and I'd "support that" too.

 

[Optimus Lime]

That wasn't a defense; just a personal reason why I don't particularly care. Who are you to tell me this is irrelevant.... to me?

I have no idea what you're talking about here. My point is fairly clear and obvious - that you are electing to misrepresent it is a waste of my time that I'm not hugely interested in engaging with beyond this explanation as to why I will be ignoring it.

I support a company's right to moderate the user content of it's services. That's it. Just like I support EviLore's right to moderate this forum; and if I ever decide I don't like their moderation, I'd leave the forum.

It could be completely unmoderated, and I'd "support that" too.

Your analogy isn't terribly appropriate, sadly. I can buy the Xbox hardware, I can bring it home, but if I 'decide I don't like their moderation', I have no option to leave. I have no choice but to give my approval of censorship by Microsoft or Sony, and they can destroy my account if I defy them. I can't say 'fuck Xbox live', and run the games that I have paid for on private servers. I can't cancel my Xbox Live subscription and continue to use the hardware that I have paid for in any way that I deem fit. I am locked into their idelogical whims - which they are justifying based on an ancient, archaic argument that they are actually 'keeping children safe'. If you can't see why that's a massive problem, I don't known what to tell you.

You're hugely in support of the technocratic control of our media, and the things that we see, hear, and read. You're happy with big tech not simply offering us products for retail sale - you're happy with them leveraging their position as the manufacturers of those products to shape our speech in ways that they, and more importantly their shareholders, are more comfortable with. If the sacrifice to achieve that is our ability to speak freely - even if some people will use that freedom to speak poorly - it's a sacrifice worth making, right?

Why didn't you just say that from the start?

 

[CaptainConlock]

That sounds pretty gay to me.... In that it would create a happier space for gamers everywhere : )

 

[IntentionalPun]

that you are electing to misrepresent it

You really expect people to bother to respond to this crap?

 

[Optimus Lime]

You really expect people to bother to respond to this crap?

You can stop any time you like, champ. Why don't you start right now?

 

[Shelookdlvl18]

This smells like censorship in the works to me. Ewww.

I do enjoy how all three console manufacturers came out in solidarity on this though. It creates an exercise in mental gymnastics. Haven't seen anyone attempt to crack that nut so far, but I imagine there's several working on it.

 

[Silver Wattle]

Sounds like this is their pre emptive counter offensive for when people call them out for censoring the shit out of anything the CCP tells them to.

 

[Aidah]

Let's produce even flakier snow flakes.

 

[danielJackson]

Maybe parents should, you know, do parenting?

And teach their kids not to talk to strangers and meet weird people from online?

Cant blame games if kids are stupid (yes, stupid adults were kids too, and some kids are smart, some stupid) and/or their parents are too.

Maybe this is US problem? Because I dont remember having to talk with strangers that many times in the 7 years I had ps4, only game I did that were in destiny 1 with some random clan that I found in my country.

I have played thousands of hours of pure multiplayer games and almost none had people chatting with mics anyway, so I find it strange that this would be large scale problem?

And it is easy to mute others anyway, isnt that good option already, parents could just mute the voice chat for kids and thats it.

My experience about online gaming on PS4 = 99/100 times nobody talks. GTA online is exception as it had its "mic on & shitty noises coming"-people, but GTA is restricted from kids so that is parents fault if they let their kids play it, at least not muting it. I think that most people just talk in the party chat with their friends, as it were usually much better quality than ingame chat.

Maybe USA people use more of the voice chat, or is this xbox thing, because my and friends experiences are the same for playstation = if someone uses mic it is really rare