Developer Infinity Ward has unveiled a new in-game reporting system designed to combat toxicity and reduce harassment inCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 2and other titles, giving moderators the ability to issue global text and voice chat bans to offenders. TheCall of Dutyfranchise 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’sCall of Dutyfor PC, theCall of Dutyfranchise 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 newCall of Dutyrelease. 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 hadbanned 500,000 toxicCall of Dutyplayerssince instituting a new player code of conduct.
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In an announcement on the officialCall of Dutyblog, developer Infinity Ward revealed that a new reporting system is being introduced withCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 2,which has already earnedover $1 billion in revenuein 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 upcomingCall of Duty: Warzone 2.0, allowing Infinity Ward to issue global bans from text and voice chat acrossCall of Dutytitles for the worst offenders.
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 inCall of Dutytitles going forward.Call of Dutymay 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 ofOverwatch 2recently issued calls forBlizzard to ban phrases in text chatto combat player harassment in that game.
Infinity Ward is almost certain to face backlash from some gamers for its stringent new code of conduct forCall of Dutytitles, 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 rumoredCall of DutyModern Warfare 2DLCarrives is likely to be music to many gamers’ ears.
