Anyone who has ever played an online game is aware of the inherent percentage of toxic gamers who get away with it. Ubisoft has decided to take the extent and severity of this problem seriously and has implemented a new bullying prevention system.
Announcing a unique system of cooperation between Ubisoft’s consumer relations center and local police departments, director Damien Glorieux confirmed (via the BBC) that Ubisoft is trying to set an example for other companies and start a new wave of player safety concerns.. But how does the French publisher want to achieve this?
Although Ubisoft’s close cooperation with the police may cause concern, only in practice less than 0.01% of cases arriving at the Center require police intervention. Andrew Holliday, who handles these more serious cases, says:
“It’s not just a game problem, it’s an internet problem. We have a real appetite to make the whole ecosystem a better place.
What we are working on very closely with the police is the segregation of cases. We look at a case and decide: is this something we can handle internally? Or is it something we should pass on?
We have had instances where things have been said and behaviors have been displayed that exceed our action threshold, there has been a threat to life or serious injury to health. The agreement with Northumbria Police meant that when we reported a player, even if they were not a UK citizen, officers could implicate the Norwegian authorities. It was much faster, more efficient and safer than trying to do it as a private citizen.”
The officers involved also recognize that this cooperation is simply one of the new needs of today’s world and is part of the ever-evolving job of a police officer.