Infinity Ward ‘putting a lot of effort’ into stamping out online abuse

Infinity Ward’s Mark Rubin has said that the studio is putting “a lot of effort into” stamping out online abuse in Call of Duty, but acknowledges that, given the scale of the online community, moderation will never “get every single person”.

“If you have 10 million plus people a day playing, we’re not going to get it 100 per cent and we’re not going to get every single person,” he says, talking to EDGE about bullying in Call of Duty. “But it’s still something we put a lot of effort into, and that’s very important.”

Rubin says that he “severely dislikes” players who “bring hate and anger” into the game, but admits that he doesn’t know the answer to stamping out abuse.

“Gaming is entertainment, y’know? This is not politics, I’m not curing cancer, I’m not doing anything important from that perspective. It’s supposed to be fun, and I severely dislike when people bring hate and anger into what is supposed to be a fun environment. I enjoy playing whether it’s losing or winning – I try to win, but I’m not a jerk about it, and I wish more players were like that. I don’t know what the answer is.”

Cyber bullying has been at the forefront of industry discussion in recent weeks after Fez developer Phil Fish pulled the plug on Fez 2 and bowed out of the industry after being propelled into an online argument with online ‘opinionist’ Marcus Beer.

Treyarch design director David Vonderhaar also received death threats last month after revealing details on a new patch for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2.

A Polygon investigation revealed further cases of cyber bullying within the industry, too, including an incident with ex-BioWare writer Jennifer Hepler which saw her subjected to “graphic threats to kill [her] children”.

This year’s Call of Duty, Call of Duty: Ghosts, launches on November 5.

Source: edge-online.com