Xbox, Nintendo and PlayStation detail ‘shared commitment to safer gaming’

Companies working together to make gaming a more inclusive pastime

Xbox, Nintendo and Sony Interactive Entertainment have announced details of a joint commitment to making gaming a safer pastime for players.

In a blog post on Xbox Wire, titled ‘Our Shared Commitment to Safer Gaming’, Xbox operations corporate VP Dave McCarthy said it is necessary for the companies to work together if they’re to overcome the challenges involved in protecting players in today’s digital world.

“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,” he wrote.

“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.”

McCarthy said the following principles are guiding the companies’ bid to ensure gaming remains as safe and inclusive as possible:

Prevention: Empower players and parents to understand and control gaming experiences.

We provide controls that let players customize their gaming experience. We support parents with the tools and information necessary to create appropriate gaming experiences for their children.
We recognize that for safety features to be useful, they must be easy to use. We will promote the availability of our safety tools through our platforms, support channels, services, on our websites and in retail stores to reach more players and parents.
We continually inform our parents and players through our codes of conduct, terms of use, and our enforcement practices.
We invest in technology to help thwart improper conduct and content before a player is subject to harm.

Partnership: We commit to partnering with the industry, regulators, law enforcement, and our communities to advance user safety.

The industry’s commitment to safety is central. We believe that we have an opportunity to collaborate for the benefit of the video game industry and all players to offer a safer gaming experience.
We work with industry trade organizations, industry members, regulators, law enforcement, and experts to develop and advance online safety initiatives.
We commit to conducting shared research for the benefit of the industry.
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.
We partner with ratings agencies such as the ESRB and PEGI to ensure that our games are rated for the appropriate audience.

Responsibility: We hold ourselves accountable for making our platforms as safe as possible for all players.

We make it easy for players to report violations of our code of conduct and, in addition to removing content, we take appropriate enforcement actions for violations, including restricting players from using our services for misconduct.
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.
We publish our rules and requirements and we ensure that players who have been reported understand the requirements for continued engagement with our platforms.

Microsoft recently committed to improving its certification process after it came to light that the game included triggers which could cause epileptic seizures in vulnerable people.

“We continue to work on partnership with other publishers, industry experts, and members of the gaming and disability community to evolve and improve our certification process and we encourage all players to review warnings on all games,” a Microsoft spokesperson told GamesRadar.