EA Sports Takes Stronger Stance Against Racist Usernames, Especially in NHL Games
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“NHL 20 might be one of the most racist communities I’ve ever been apart of,” wrote one Reddit user in a now-locked thread published almost a month ago. The user reported facing off against user-created teams with blatantly racist team names and bemoaned EA’s lack of a meaningful reporting tool. “Nobody laughs at them, it’s just next to impossible to report this stuff,” responded one user. “EA doesn’t have the systems in place to properly do so.” Now EA appears to be in the process of developing those tools. In a statement published on its official EA Sports Twitter account, the company wrote: “We’re constantly taking action to maintain a culture of inclusion. Toxic behavior changes and evolves rapidly and we recognize that we need to do more to actively monitor and remove those individuals who perpetuate racist, xenophobic, homophobic or sexist behaviors in our games.” The company promises to review its term list to ensure filters are “comprehensive and accounts for various languages, dialects and slang. This is something we will review and expand upon regularly.”— EA SPORTS (@EASPORTS) June 5, 2020EA also says it’s “adding more tools in-game to increase the reporting functionality to make it easier and more seamless for players to report toxic behavior as it occurs and for our teams to remove the content and offenders,” as well as increase the “frequency of reviewing offenses with the goal of acting more quickly to remove it from our games.” The company also made a special announcement to the EA NHL community, which appears to be the only EA Sports game to receive its own dedicated message.
— EA SPORTS NHL (@EASPORTSNHL) June 6, 2020“Chel shouldn’t be a place for any form of hatred, bigotry or racism. We have manually actioned on thousands of accounts to date, but it hasn’t been enough, and that’s on us.” EA says it will deliver “harsher penalties to anyone with offensive content,” bolster “resources to monitor and action on more accounts,” strengthen its profanity filters and create “new in-game functionality for future titles that will allow players to report and send any abusive material directly to our team.” “This is only the beginning. We want to be a force in promoting inclusive and equal hockey culture and we will continue to take the proper steps towards achieving that.” The move follows Infinity Ward which announced that it too will strengthen its policies against racist and hateful usernames players create for online matches. These actions follow an industry-wide stance against racism following the death of George Floyd. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN.
Valorant Review – For Your Tactical Consideration
Think Counter-Strike with hero elements. That's the elevator pitch for Valorant, Riot Games' debut on the competitive first-person shooter scene. I say that not to disparage Valorant, though. In fact, that's what I love most about it, especially since it executes on the formula extremely well. Valorant thrives because of tight, tactical gameplay and a mix of character-based abilities that provide a necessary strategic layer. Although it's a slim package with limited features and barren presentation, Valorant has the potential to be great.
The core mode of Valorant revolves around five-on-five matches in a best of 25 rounds with two teams of attackers and defenders of bomb sites, switching sides about halfway through. The stakes are high as everyone gets only one life per round, and the focus on precise gunplay with low time-to-kill leaves little margin for error. Teams must account for buying guns, armor, and ability charges based on money allocated (depending on performance) on a per-round basis. In turn, each round maintains a high level of intensity as the tide of advantage can shift at any moment.
Agents introduce an essential X-factor to the mix with their unique abilities as well. While it's easy to compare them to heroes/classes from other games, Valorant's Agent abilities function more like gear in a loadout. Two are subject to limited uses per round (but thankfully carry over even if you're killed) while a default ability subject to cooldown or replenish upon kills. Knowing how and when to execute these abilities, including Ultimates that can come in clutch, is key especially for highly competitive matches.
Continue Reading at GameSpotValorant Review – For Your Tactical Consideration
Think Counter-Strike with hero elements. That's the elevator pitch for Valorant, Riot Games' debut on the competitive first-person shooter scene. I say that not to disparage Valorant, though. In fact, that's what I love most about it, especially since it executes on the formula extremely well. Valorant thrives because of tight, tactical gameplay and a mix of character-based abilities that provide a necessary strategic layer. Although it's a slim package with limited features and barren presentation, Valorant has the potential to be great.
The core mode of Valorant revolves around five-on-five matches in a best of 25 rounds with two teams of attackers and defenders of bomb sites, switching sides about halfway through. The stakes are high as everyone gets only one life per round, and the focus on precise gunplay with low time-to-kill leaves little margin for error. Teams must account for buying guns, armor, and ability charges based on money allocated (depending on performance) on a per-round basis. In turn, each round maintains a high level of intensity as the tide of advantage can shift at any moment.
Agents introduce an essential X-factor to the mix with their unique abilities as well. While it's easy to compare them to heroes/classes from other games, Valorant's Agent abilities function more like gear in a loadout. Two are subject to limited uses per round (but thankfully carry over even if you're killed) while a default ability subject to cooldown or replenish upon kills. Knowing how and when to execute these abilities, including Ultimates that can come in clutch, is key especially for highly competitive matches.
Continue Reading at GameSpotIGN’s Summer of Gaming Will Now Begin on June 10
IGN’s Summer of Gaming Will Now Begin on June 10
Fantastic 4 Director’s Biggest Regret Is About the Casting of Sue Storm
Fantastic 4 Director’s Biggest Regret Is About the Casting of Sue Storm
Steam Game Festival Postponed by a Week
Steam Game Festival Postponed by a Week
EA Play Live Delayed by One Week
EA hasn't confirmed what games will be featured at EA Play Live, but it does promise it will showcase "games through a live broadcast, community content, and more."
EA Play Live is just one of the many events that have been delayed in response to the global protests following the death of George Floyd.
Sony delayed its PlayStation 5 reveal event, Fortnite delayed its Chapter 2 Season 3 debut, and the Cyberpunk 2077 news broadcast, Night City Wire, was delayed from June 11 to June 25.
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Other game developers have taken action to support the protests around the world, including Rockstar shutting down GTA Online and Red Dead Online for 2 hours, NBA 2K20 adding Black Lives Matters shirts, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare delaying its seasons, committing to ban racist names, and putting a Black Lives Matter message front and center for all players.
IGN stands in solidarity with the black community, and condemns racism. We encourage those reading to donate to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and support the fight for racial justice.
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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.