Call of Duty Developers Vow To Battle Racist Content

Several videogame developers have supported the ongoing protests in the US by delaying new titles and significant updates. Activision, with Infinity Ward, was among the group who have asked their fans to have patience and to show support for the current cause. They delayed updates for their Call of Duty games, following in the footsteps of other developers.

Now, they are taking things further to eliminate racist players from their games. The announcement was made on Twitter, in which the developers claimed to have added several new resources to remove all the negative aspects.

Infinity Ward takes strict measures against racism content

Infinity Ward has announced that it will focus on removing racist content in its games. The developers will issue more than a thousand bans to players who are using racist and hate-oriented names. These users will be banned permanently from the games, which includes Call of Duty titles if they are repeat offenders.

They’ve also promised to deploy additional resources to monitor racist ID content. Infinity Ward mentions how it had been putting in efforts to avoid such peccable content since launch but needs to do even better now.

Players can also help remove such content with the updated in-game reporting system so they can confirm and increase bans. There will also be restrictions and filters on name changes and settings. Players will no longer be allowed to use any sort of racist or offensive words.

Only repeat offenders getting banned is the surprising element. As they are looking to put a stop to racist players; they could simply impose permanent bans for first-time offenders as well. This would be a stronger statement. Instead, the game will give these players a chance to rethink their actions.

Gaming community reacts

While fans and players support the decision they are questioning why these weren’t in effect from the beginning. Several believe that the company is only ensuring its safety and reputation amidst the ongoing crisis.

Rod ‘Slasher’ Breslau, who is now an eSports journalist, had the same opinion about the actions of the developers. He pointed out that the tragedy is the reason the developers have decided such content is not acceptable. However, he still calls what has been done ‘progress.’

Infinity Ward, among other developers, is trying its best to handle this sensitive issue. Things could have been better for them had they established these ground rules from the start. Guess, we should consider their actions better late than never.