UK based trade association of the video gaming industry, TIGA has published a new report sharing the best practice guidance to help developers and publishers to keep players safe in their video games.
The report titled as Safeguarding Players: Responsibility and Best Practice, focuses on policing and safeguarding player communities in online games. Additionally, its concern also includes the well being and safety of users during unique challenges in VR games.
Considering insights and comments from leading gaming studios like Jagex, nDreams, Lockwood Publishing and technology outfits like Spirit AI, the report is packed with advises and insights about how the most experienced ones are safeguarding their players right.
The report recommends that gaming businesses should:
- Anticipate the way content can be abused;
- Make the standard of acceptable behaviour explicit;
- Make reporting technologies and systems of protection clear;
- Provide the player community with the tools they need;
- Understand the parasitic website challenge; and
- Consider the distinct impact of VR.
“This report provides best practice guidance to help developers and publishers keep players safe in their video games. Thanks to all our contributors, it will serve as a practical guide in preventing and responding to the likes of online bullying, toxic behaviour, inappropriate user-generated content and more. There is detailed guidance on how teams of every size can meet the challenge of policing 1000s-strong communities with only a handful of staff. We have also included spotlights on how VR changes online behaviour’s potential impact and explored the additional ramifications of physical safety and comfort in virtual reality content,” commented TIGA CEO Richard Wilson OBE in an official post.
The report also includes related issues like parasitic websites that target developer’s audiences and links to resources on some of the most troubling online behaviours. Wilson expects that the report will help more gaming businesses to keep their players safe and help them grow without any disruption.