Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony launch ‘Shared Commitment to Safe Gaming’

Microsoft, Sony Interactive Entertainment and Nintendo, the top three console makers in the video gaming industry, have pledged to make gaming “safer”, according to a news release on Monday.

All three companies issued a statement, Released on Microsoft’s Xbox Wire, Outlines new efforts to protect their “youngest and most vulnerable players.” There are no specific steps towards this goal in the Pledge; Instead, it focuses on the “principles” that guide the program.

For example, the Joint Statement highlights policies that include:

We believe that hatred and harassment or exploitation of younger players has no place in gaming. We partner with our community to promote safe gaming behavior and to encourage the use of reporting tools to invite bad actors.

And:

We comply with all local laws and respond to all law enforcement requests. We will notify law enforcement immediately if we notice illegal behavior or if we believe a player is at risk of immediate harm.

“At Xbox, on behalf of the Nintendo Switch Players’ Community, we have teamed up with both Nintendo and the PlayStation in our belief that protecting players online requires a multifaceted approach – one that combines advanced technology, a support community and the efficient benefits of human oversight,” said XboxTop, the company’s leader. “We can still achieve when we work towards the same goal, so we will continue to invest, evolve and multiply in our approaches to user security. As we continue this work, we will prioritize the protection of our players, especially the most vulnerable.”

Pledges to help parents understand video game safety tools outline policies such as “prevention, partnership and responsibility”, including “industry, regulators, law enforcement and affiliation with our communities” and ensuring that players can report misconduct. The full report is available on Xbox Wire.