Call of Duty bans 30,000 players due to racist names and behavior

The game CALL of Duty has suspended hundreds of thousands of players as part of a months-long campaign against inappropriate behavior. In a report released this week, publisher Activision detailed how hate speech and harassment against players have been eradicated within the game.

350,000 accounts with racist names or toxic behavior have been banned over the past 12 months, and players have been removed from Call of Duty: Warzone, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and Call of Duty: Mobile.

Activision said the mass ban was prompted by player reporting and a comprehensive review of Call of Duty's player name database. We are committed to providing an enjoyable gaming experience for all of our players, the company wrote in its recent report, and there is no place for toxic behavior, hate speech, or harassment from any genre in our games or community, and we focus on taking positive steps forward, and together we celebrate the best fans in the world.

Additional measures published by Activision include new in-game filters to catch potentially abusive usernames, clan tags, or profiles, and the company said it has also implemented new technology to filter out potentially abusive text chat.

Activision said, there is a lot that needs to be done, including increasing player reporting and moderation capabilities, as well as manipulating voice chat to help combat toxicity. An enforcement approach that addresses hate speech, racism, sexism, and harassment.