One of Activision's Call of Duty studios, Infinity Ward, has committed to fighting racism in its games.
In a post on Twitter (below), the developer said that it was already banning thousands of players each day for having racist or "hate-orientated names" but has vowed to do more.
Infinity Ward has said it will be adding more resources to monitor for and identify racist content, as well as giving players more options to report bad behaviour in Call of Duty. Furthermore, the studio is adding in more filters and restrictions for name changes and increasing the number of permanent bans to "root out repeat offenders."
Online games like Call of Duty have long seen players using hate speech, including racism and homophobia. The fact that it's taken Infinity Ward so long to act on this is concerning, but it's good that they are taking action to cut this behaviour out.
This move comes after protests have taken hold of the United States following the death of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer. Many games companies have voiced their support for the #BlackLivesMatter movement, though only a handful have actually done anything to help change the situation. Humble has set aside from $1m to publish games by black developers, while Double Fine has donated $12,000 to anti-racist charities.
You can see how the games industry is showing support and how you can help the cause here.
— Infinity Ward (@InfinityWard) June 3, 2020
