Publishing giant EA had a rather low-key presence at this year's E3, but the publishing giant did find time to look at how to handle bullying and harassment in video games.
The firm held the Building Healthy Communities Summit at its own EA Play event at the LA trade show, bringing together different voices from both the industry and charities, such as anti-bullying organisation Ditch the Label.
In a blog post summarising the event, EA said that according to stats from Ditch the Label's Liam Hackett, 57 per cent of users have been bullied in an online game. Meanwhile, 74 per cent of the research panel say that more should be done to take bullying in games more seriously.
EA also talked up its own efforts to tackle toxicity within its games communities, but the firm made a number of commitments as for what comes next.
"We have a long road ahead, but we are thrilled with the energy and knowledge sharing that we witnessed at our inaugural Building Healthy Communities Summit. A big thank you goes out to everyone who participated and pledged their support for positive change," senior director of global community engagement Adam Tanielian wrote.
"Combating in-game bullying and toxicity is a major focus for us across all of EA. We want to build on existing efforts and increase our contribution to our community through actions that make a difference. As shared at the close of the Summit, our commitments include:
Working with our players to develop a Building Healthy Communities Player Council that will provide ongoing feedback into EA programs, policies, and platforms, including additional avenues for community feedback.
Exploring new toxicity tools and in-game features to more easily manage and effectively report disruptive behavior in our services.
Keeping the community informed on a quarterly basis about the progress we are making and new initiatives underway to mitigate toxic communities through periodic Community Health Reports.
"We are committed to the challenge. We have to be. We’ve built amazing communities in and around our games, and we’re proud to be part of the global community that exists between game players around the world. We have to make it safe and fun for everyone. We look forward to working with you to make that happen."
