Riot Games and Ubisoft are teaming up to tackle toxicity

Riot Games and Ubisoft have announced the ‘Zero Harm in Comms’ project, which will see the game developers team up to investigate “artificial intelligence-based solutions” to toxicity in multiplayer games.

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Riot Games is best known for its competitive multiplayer games Valorant and League of Legends, while Ubisoft’s biggest multiplayer game is its tactical shooter Rainbow Six Siege.

From today (November 16), both developers will work together on ‘Zero Harm in Comms’ – a research project that will see the companies search for ways to tackle toxicity and harassment in their games.

According to a statement from the pair, this research will focus on enhancing “the reach of their artificial intelligence-based solutions” and work to create “a cross-industry shared database labelling ecosystem that gathers in-game data, which will better train AI preemptive moderation tools to detect and mitigate disruptive behaviour.”

“Disruptive player behaviour is an issue that we take very seriously but also one that is very difficult to solve,” shared Yves Jacquier, executive director at Ubisoft La Forge. “At Ubisoft, we have been working on concrete measures to ensure safe and enjoyable experiences, but we believe that, by coming together as an industry, we will be able to tackle this issue more effectively.”

“Through this technological partnership with Riot Games, we are exploring how to better prevent in-game toxicity as designers of these environments with a direct link to our communities,” Jacquier added.

While the project is in its early stages, Riot and Ubisoft will share their findings “with the whole industry” in 2023.

“Disruptive behavior isn’t a problem that is unique to games – every company that has an online social platform is working to address this challenging space,” explained Wesley Kerr, head of techology research at Riot. “That is why we’re committed to working with industry partners like Ubisoft who believe in creating safe communities and fostering positive experiences in online spaces.”

Kerr added that the project will help Riot “develop systems that create healthy, safe, and inclusive interactions with our games.”

Last year, a study from the Anti-Defamation League found that almost two thirds of young gamers experience harassment while playing online games. 42 per cent of gamers pointed to Valorant as having the most hostile environment, followed closely by Call of Duty.

In other news, Call Of Duty: Vanguard has been nominated for the first-ever gaming Grammy.

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