Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo Partner on Commitment to Safer Gaming

Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo have partnered together in an effort to protect the safety of their players in our connected and socially-focused world.Announced on Xbox Wire, Corporate Vice President of Xbox Operations Dave McCarthy discussed how he and the team believe that “gaming is for all people of all ages, including our youngest and most vulnerable players.” However, protecting players online is not an easy task and “requires a multidisciplinary approach” that is only enhanced when working together with the likes of Nintendo and PlayStation.

“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,” McCarthy 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.”

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McCarthy also discussed the principles that guide their work towards this safer future for gamers around the world, and they are as follows;

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.

In closing, McCarthy writes that protecting players is a challenge, especially in a “digitally and often instantaneously connected world.” This partnership was forged in hopes to make that battle easier won, as “no one company or industry will solve these challenges alone.”

This isn’t the first time these companies have worked together to help create a brighter future for video games, as just last year Sony and Microsoft teamed up to improve cloud gaming and streaming platforms.

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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.