The studio Riot Games has announced plans to record and analyze voice chat in their shooter Valorant to identify and ban flamers. Currently, this is only intended for Valorant, and there are no plans for League of Legends, although this would be possible under a new clause of the privacy policy.
This is the announcement from Riot Games: In a blog post, the developers announced they would be expanding their “Privacy Notice.” They will introduce a clause allowing Riot Games to record and analyze voice chat if a report is made: A player violated the rules by being racist or offensive, for example. Riot Games refers to this as “disruptive behavior.”
They will start with Valorant. However, the new clause applies to all Riot Games titles, including the extremely popular MOBA League of Legends, Riot Games explains. This is because the “Privacy Notice” works across games. All players, regardless of the game, must accept the changes.
If Riot Games detects a violation of the rules in the recording of the voice chat, they will act according to the guidelines (including bans). In any case, the recorded voice transmission is to be deleted after the analysis.
Will this also apply to other Riot Games titles? Currently, there are no plans. For LoL, Wild Rift, and Teamfight Tactics, there are no plans to record voice chat. For the card game League of Legends: Runeterra, there are not even plans to introduce a voice chat at all.
Is someone from Riot constantly listening? No, says Riot Games.
They say: They will not actively listen in on games. They will only hear the chat if “disruptive behavior” has been reported by a player.
It is still unclear how Riot Games will analyze the massive amount of data they expect. In an interview, it was said: They are still looking at various technical possibilities and trying to select one to start with.
However, regardless of which system they choose, employees will also be involved in decision-making and moderation.
Anyone who wants to prevent the chat from being recorded should turn it off
What can one do if they do not want the voice chat recorded? In that case, they should turn off the voice chat, advises Riot Games.
However, for those who participate in voice chat, their data can be recorded and analyzed.
This is why Riot Games is doing this: In an interview with Tech Crunch, a Riot employee states:
“Players suffer a lot in voice chat, and much of this suffering is caused by various disruptive behaviors and can be quite hurtful. We have noticed this, and we promised the players to do everything we can to create a safe space.”
Weszt Hart, Head of Players Dynamics, Riot Games
Riot Games had already announced in May 2020 that they would address harassment in Valorant and made it a top priority.
When is this coming? Riot Games says that as soon as they implement the system, they will inform players and also notify them in the Valorant game client that recording is starting.
The system is initially to start in Valorant North America.
Are there no privacy issues in Europe? A Riot Games employee responsible for Europe says (via reddit): The privacy policy has been part of Riot Games’ plans from the beginning. They have teamed up with experts on the GDPR to avoid issues.
Surveillance plans alarm some fans: “NSA and China are listening”
This is how it is being discussed: On reddit, the topic “Riot is listening” is being actively discussed.
- One user says: “Somehow disgusting. But they have the choice between the plague and cholera. You can’t control voice chat if you’re not recording it. However, I’m concerned that things like voice logs could be recorded and handed over to the government when they are after people. And don’t get it twisted: This is going to happen.”
- Another user says: The NSA will analyze the voice chat, and China will analyze the voice chat. They will know everything that happens on the planet anyway.
- Others welcome the system and hope it comes to League of Legends as well.
Insults and flames in voice chat have been a major issue in online games for years. Games developers fear this behavior could drive players away from their games. Currently, other companies are also working on a technical solution for the problem:
Intel is working on censorship AI to protect you in games like CoD or LoL from nasty flamers
