For many gamers, toxicity and abusive behavior are sadly part of gaming culture.
Targeting and eradicating toxicity is a crucial element to ensuring that gaming remains fun and safe for everyone involved. Tackling this has brought many stakeholders together to create an alliance that’s dedicated to the good of gaming and that fights harassment, discrimination, and abuse.
The State of Gaming Toxicity
Toxicity can occur in almost any game. This harassment can even show up in typically “friendly” games like Super Smash Bros.
In a study on the subject, three of four people surveyed experienced some form of harassment while gaming on popular platforms, with a majority describing that harassment as “severe.” Many cases included physical threats, stalking, and harassment, with some players being exposed to white supremacy as well as falsehoods surrounding 9/11 and the Holocaust.
Gaming Safety And The Fair Play Alliance
The Fair Play Alliance was formed in 2018 as a response to the increasing toxicity in online gaming. They are an expanding coalition of professional gamers and game publishers – over 160 companies have joined – who are committed to stamping out gaming toxicity and making sure that gameplay stays fun and safe for all participants. Their stated mission is to “identify, define, and enable awesome player interactions, fair play, and healthy communities in online games by design.”
Among the member companies of The Alliance are some of the biggest names in gaming including EA Sports, Ubisoft, and many others. The Alliance frequently hosts summits and seminars which are focused on making gaming a toxicity-free environment.
Some examples of resources offered by the Alliance include “Basic Tools for Healthy Communities”, hosted by Laura Warner (Niantic), Kenny Shores (Riot), and Jess Hollmeier (Supercell) and the Fair Play Alliance Keynote, presented by Dave McCarthy (Xbox) and Jarrod Doherty (Blizzard) – where leaders in the field discuss why publishers, game developers, and gaming platforms should consider applying best practices of player behavior and content moderation/online safety approaches.
L1ght Is A Crucial Part Of Ending Gaming Toxicity
L1ght has joined the Fair Play Alliance, which is showing that through collaboration and partnerships, this fight against toxicity in gaming can be won.
By combining advanced tech solutions such as those L1ght provides, together with gaming platforms, NGOs and other stakeholders, we’re seeing a future of gaming where – in the words of the Alliance – “games are free of harassment, discrimination, and abuse, and where players can express themselves through play.”
L1ght’s contextual AI tool can analyze any signal including text, photo, video, URLs, GIFs and safeguard against bullying, predators, and online toxicity found in gaming platforms. We believe we are a key ally of gaming platforms in ensuring that gameplay remains safe and fun for everyone – and that toxicity and its often tragic consequences have no place in gameplay of the future.
To hear more about how L1ght and The Fair Play Alliance are changing the face of online gaming, get in touch.