Six ways to create safer spaces to play

gamesindustry.biz:

Everyone should be able to enjoy games without fear of discrimination, harassment, or bullying. Yet, new reporting by Deloitte shows that progress on this front has remained elusive, for women for instance.

The survey finds that women avoid multiplayer and live service games in part due to bullying and harassment: 69% of women surveyed favor simple mobile games over multiplayer titles, 48% believe there is too much bullying or harassment, and 44% say they are more likely to play a multiplayer game if they know there is moderation in place to limit bad behavior.

And although there are roughly as many women playing video games as men in the US, some women say they even hide their gender to avoid harassment online.

Gaming companies can and should do better. I believe that we have everything it takes to make virtual spaces not only entertaining and engaging, but also safe for all. Here are six steps that all studios should follow to combat bullying and harassment in their games.

1) Set clear community guidelines and follow them

First things first: develop a comprehensive code of conduct that explicitly prohibits harassment, discrimination, and hate speech.

Make your stance on player safety clear, strong, and unambiguous to build trust and respect. Clearly define acceptable behavior and what is prohibited, and use examples from your games' context as much as possible to make it concrete and relevant.

List and explain what happens when guidelines are not followed, such as warnings, temporary suspensions, or permanent bans.

When writing the guidelines, use concise and clear language to ensure they are understood by all players, regardless of age and language proficiency. If you do have a large player community in a certain language area, consider localizing the guidelines.

Make sure guidelines are easily accessible at all times. Consider "gating" some social features so that players need to first read and commit to guidelines – or even pass a quiz – before playing.

Take