Ubisoft, the studio behind franchises like Rainbow Six, The Division, and Assassin’s Creed, has made a unique agreement with the police in the UK: If employees receive severe threats from gamers, these will be forwarded to the authorities through a fast-track process. The harassment seems to have gotten out of hand.
What is Ubisoft planning? As reported by BBC, Ubisoft’s customer relations center in Newcastle, England, is working with the police in Northumbria. The goal is to tackle harassment and threats online.
To this end, the police will train Ubisoft employees on how to deal with toxic behavior online. In return, Ubisoft will have the opportunity to directly forward particularly extreme cases to the police, who will then handle further processing.
The agreement is the first of its kind.
Why is this important? Andrew Holliday, one of the managers working with the relevant team at Ubisoft, says: “There were death threats or threats of serious injury” and such problems are not just a gaming issue, but an internet issue in general.
In the past, heated tempers online have led to serious threats:
- For Cyberpunk 2077, there were death threats against the developers because the game had to be delayed repeatedly.
- The botched release of Battlefield 2042 led to gamers wishing death upon the developers.
- In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, even the children of the developers were wished a cruel death because the game was not running smoothly.
Such threats go beyond just the developers directly involved with the games and target people who have nothing to do with the actual problems. In WoW, the storyline of the Shadowlands expansion was poorly received – as a result, one book author was wished to die.
Not all interactions on the internet are that extremely negative – luckily. One streamer became famous on Twitch due to a single kind gesture:
Extreme cases are reported directly to the police
How will this work? Ubisoft now wants to ensure that such extreme cases are reported directly to the police and can be pursued. The system involves a fast-track process.
This means: If Ubisoft discovers a criminal case, the police will be informed immediately. The relevant user apparently does not even have to reside in the United Kingdom. Holliday explains that in a previous case the police were able to contact authorities in Norway directly.
Ubisoft is not the first corporation to pursue particularly severe cases of harassment through legal action:
What is being reported? Ubisoft does not provide specific parameters for cases that are forwarded, only speaking of “the most extreme.” In total, less than 0.01% of reports actually reach the police. Most can still be handled with bans.
The goal is to ensure that gaming serves as entertainment and that one does not have to expect negative experiences just for enjoying gaming. They want to create a better environment for everyone: “There is an appetite to make the whole ecosystem a better place.”
The problem with toxic behavior has been brewing for years in gaming and on the internet in general. MeinMMO demon Cortyn examined this more closely back in 2018:
