EA Sports Taking Steps To Reduce Racist Language in its Games
EA Sports has made a statement on its official Twitter account addressing concerns in NHL 20. The announcement states company has begun additional work on better tools and filters to tackle flagged terminology used by harmful players within its games. Though there are already existing processes in place, players have found loopholes in the type of language used to spew hate speech to other players, and more measures are needed, similar to actions taken by Valorant developer Riot Games.
The statement detailed EA Sports’ active efforts into reviewing its terms list and ensuring the filter system is more comprehensive and updated to account for the growing use of unacceptable language. In addition, a better reporting system will be implemented to help players point out toxic behavior and address the behavior itself, as well as the individuals responsible. Specifically, EA Sports will be addressing racist, xenophobic, homophobic, and sexist behaviors by players.
This is in response to a thread created on the official EA NHL subreddit by a player nearly a month ago. Users were detailing their experiences with hate speech within the NHL 20 game and many users took issue with the ease of ability one has to target marginalized groups and the use of derogatory language within custom team names and player names. EA Sports promises to dedicate more resources to tackle these issues more promptly going forward. The company also promises to address these issues within its entire portfolio of games especially during a time where many players are at home participating in EA's Covid-19 relief efforts.
Earlier this month, Infinity Ward addressed racism in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone on the Modern Warfare Subreddit, promising to address these serious issues within the coming weeks to better the player experience. Both companies state they will work to better communicate specifics as to how they will tackle these issues as soon as possible.
The timing has been controversial given the serious issues that are being protested worldwide following the death of George Floyd at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota. While the sincerity of the intent is up for debate, EA has donated one million dollars to social justice charities.
Microsoft took action against a racist YouTube partner days ago, and if successful, the player base within the EA communities will feel a lot safer with EA Sport's efforts. It is important to hold companies accountable on issues such as this, given how diverse the player base is and how unacceptable it is to hate on others — regardless of differences.
EA Sports NHL 20 is available now on PS4 and Xbox One
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