• News

Xbox launches Enforcement Strike System to combat toxicity in gaming

Under the Xbox Enforcement Strike System, players who violate community rules will face increasing suspensions from Xbox social features.

TJ Denzer

August 16, 2023 8:45 AM

Image via Xbox

1

Xbox has put in some effort to combat toxic social behavior in gaming on its platforms, and it’s increasing those efforts this week with the introduction of the Enforcement Strike System. This new system was announced to be going into effect immediately and will give players increasing punishments if they break the community rules, up to and including a full and permanent ban at the last strike.

Xbox announced the Enforcement Strike System via a post on the Xbox Wire blog this week. CVP of Xbox Player Services Dave McCarthy shared some details about the system, including how many strikes players get and what the punishments will be. Simply put, players have eight strikes, after the eighth strike they get banned for a year, and strikes don’t fall off for six months. However, players are also suspended from Xbox social features such as parties and online chat for increasing amounts of time based on how many strikes they have on record. With this system, Xbox hopes to guide players to good behavior and simply weed out those who refuse to adhere to its community rules and standards.

This marks the latest effort by Xbox to provide a safe and friendly environment for players to enjoy their games with each other. Earlier this year, Xbox also launched the voice chat reporting feature, allowing players to record instances of toxic and aggressive chat and report it directly to the Xbox moderation team, clip and all. With this new Enforcement Strike System, Xbox is upping its moderation game even further to try to provide peace of mind to its player base.

With the early launch of Xbox’s new Enforcement Strike System, it will be interesting to see how the company adjusts as it goes. Will eight strikes be too much? Will it actually drive toxicity down on Xbox platforms? It remains to be seen, but we’ll follow for further updates to this system as they drop.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.