Sadly, we must now talk about one of the darker elements of the gaming industry. We’re referring to the various kinds of harassment that go on in the gaming space at all levels. Some of you are likely aware of this from the gamer level via multiplayer titles. You hear it from those who cuss you out during live multiplayer play just because they think they can, or they’ll harass you in the game’s chat, ruining your experience. It’s not right. Just as sad, though, is that some gamers go after companies like Square Enix and attempt to harass them in various ways.
To be clear, there are times when fan outrage against a developer is emphatically justified, as recent years have shown. The difference is that you should voice your disapproval of certain things, not make harassing or even threatening messages against those within the company, as that’s a line you can’t uncross. To that end, Square Enix has revealed via a special announcement that it’s adopted a new policy allowing them to go after gamers who have crossed a line with their words or actions.
In it, they note that:
“There are instances where certain customers take actions directly or through our support centers, or towards our group executives, employees, partners who are involved in the creation and distribution of our group products and services, that constitute “customer harassment,” such as denial of personality, violence, defamation, intimidation, advance notice of wrongdoing, advance notice of obstruction of business, harassment. Such actions do not only prevent our employees and partners from engaging in their work with a sense of security but also causes disruptions to other customers. Square Enix will not tolerate harassment and will take action as necessary.”
The company went on to note that if they catch someone doing this, it’ll ensure that those who participated in this harassment will receive various punishments, including getting denied access to games and services and potentially even having court action brought against them. To ensure that nothing they’re doing is mistranslated or misunderstood, they listed out their terms of harassment and other actions that could trigger this new policy.
At first, this might seem a bit excessive, but it’s honestly not. The company is trying to protect its employees from undue mental and emotional harassment, and that’s to be praised. No one should be harassed to the level that some are in the gaming space, and if you can’t stop it with a single policy, that’s a good thing.
