Game developer Infinity Ward announced plans Wednesday to squelch racism from Call of Duty players.
In a Twitter post, the company wrote, "There is no place for racist content in our game. This is an effort we began with launch and we need to do a better job. We're issuing thousands of daily bans of racist and hate-oriented names. But we know we have to do more. ...
"We apologize to our players. This is our commitment to you, our fans, thank you."
Infinity Ward, a California-based subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, laid out its plan to deal with in the game:
--Adding additional resources to monitor and ID racist content
--Adding additional in-game reporting systems to increase the number of bans by hour
--Adding filters and greater restrictions on name changes
--Evaluating in-game improvements to make it easier to report offenses
--Increasing permanent bans to root out repeat offenders
According to DotEsports.com, the announcement comes a day after one of the leading posts on the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reddit showed a player searching through the CoD database to display numerous names including a racial slur.
On Monday, the company had announced a delay of the start of the Call of Duty seasons amid nationwide and worldwide protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd last week. Then-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who kneeled on Floyd's neck for eight-plus minutes, was charged with murder, and three other since-fired officers were charged on Wednesday with abetting Chauvin.
The CoD account tweeted, "While we all look forward to playing the new seasons of Modern Warfare, Warzone and Call of Duty: Mobile, now is not the time.
"We are moving the launches of Modern Warfare Season 4 and Call of Duty: Mobile Season 7 to later dates.
"Right now it's time for those speaking up for equality, justice and change to be seen and heard.
"We stand alongside you."