One major drawback to online games has always been toxicity among players, which is done through a number of methods. At the core of it, however, is the antagonization and worsening of the game experience. For those planning on picking upAnthemearly next year, this could be a concern.
Nevertheless, BioWare seems to be on top of it, at least according to senior system designer Christ Schmidt. Describing the issue as one “near and dear to him,” he also said that it had a “few moving parts.” Up first, catching and punishing toxic players inAnthemwas up to the customer experience team, in which he expressed total faith.
Generally speaking, Schmidt referenced methods passed around in theFree Play Alliance. These methods have been shared by several studios and could go a long way in managing in-game toxicity. According to Schmidt, the biggest and trickiest part is that there’s no knowing how toxic the player base will be until the game actually launches.
Concerning specifics, Schmidt stated he couldn’t reveal much, but he reassured the community that he is working on a plan that should cover toxicity inAnthem. It’ll be interesting to see how effective this plan will be when the game launches, especially considering that it’ll be acomplete package on day one.Check out what Schmidt said here:
The approach we have been taking is a proactive one: studying best practices and success stories around the game industry and applying some of those inAnthem. I can’t really speak to details at this point, but I’m working with a holistic plan with the ability to both be proactive and reactive to whatever flavor of community standards settle in aroundAnthem.
Talks concerning toxicity will likely continue moving forward, and it’s nice to see BioWare involved. Now thatAnthemis in the Alpha phase, this could be a bigger issue moving forward, and hopefully, Schmidt’s plan works when the full game launches.
Anthemis scheduled to release in July 06, 2025 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
