Developer Infinity Ward has unveiled a new in-game reporting system designed to combat toxicity and reduce harassment in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and other titles, giving moderators the ability to issue global text and voice chat bans to offenders. The Call of Duty franchise has faced criticism from many gamers over the years for failing to effectively moderate the massive number of toxic players in the game’s online multiplayer modes.
Debuting with 2003’s Call of Duty for PC, the Call of Duty franchise has grown to become one of the most well-known and successful properties in gaming. While the series has often received praise for its single-player campaigns, the online multiplayer modes are what keeps many gamers buying each new Call of Duty release. Although the series’ multiplayer modes have developed a devoted following, some gamers have sworn off the franchise due to in-game voice and text chat that can be rife with racism, misogyny, and homophobia. As part of a recent effort to combat player harassment, Infinity Ward announced that they had banned 500,000 toxic Call of Duty players since instituting a new player code of conduct.
In an announcement on the official Call of Duty blog, developer Infinity Ward revealed that a new reporting system is being introduced with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which has already earned over $1 billion in revenue in just over a week since release. The in-game reporting system will give players the ability to provide additional context when reporting offensive behavior online, and gives moderators a new suite of tools for addressing problem players. The new reporting system will also be included in the upcoming Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0, allowing Infinity Ward to issue global bans from text and voice chat across Call of Duty titles for the worst offenders.
In order to ensure that players are familiar with the new rules, gamers will have to acknowledge the new Code of Conduct before entering the multiplayer mode in Call of Duty titles going forward. Call of Duty may be one of the first franchises that come to mind when gamers think of toxicity in multiplayer, but it’s far from the only game to grapple with the issue of bad behavior online. Some players of Overwatch 2 recently issued calls for Blizzard to ban phrases in text chat to combat player harassment in that game.
Infinity Ward is almost certain to face backlash from some gamers for its stringent new code of conduct for Call of Duty titles, but this sort of zero-tolerance approach makes it clear that the developer is serious about its commitment to improving players’ online experience. While it remains to be seen if this new effort to fight toxicity will succeed, the thought of muting the most offensive players before the rumored Call of DutyModern Warfare 2 DLC arrives is likely to be music to many gamers’ ears.
Source: Call of Duty Blog
