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Riot’s efforts to combat toxicity in Valorant 

Riot Games is set to make the first steps towards eliminating toxicity in its titles, starting with voice chat... Henrieta | 30. June 2022

Riot Games is set to make the first steps towards eliminating toxicity in its titles, starting with voice chat in Valorant. The game company recently announced that it will launch the test of a voice chat monitoring system for its competitive FPS in mid-July — a decision that sparked controversy in the Valorant community. 

Voice chat monitoring

Starting on July 13, Riot Games will launch its voice evaluation system for English-speaking Valorant players in North America as a part of its “larger effort to combat disruptive behaviour”. Prior to announcing the update earlier in April, the developer updated its privacy policy to enable the company to record in-game voice communications and evaluate them based on reports submitted. 

However, Riot won’t use voice monitoring for assessing player reports just yet. The company claims that for now, the system will be implemented only to train its language models and collect data to help build the beta version of the voice evaluation system. Riot plans to launch the beta later this year and eventually use it across all of its titles. 

According to Riot, voice evaluation would offer a way of collecting evidence that could prove disruptive behaviour and help the company communicate the reasons for penalties to affected players. The developer also noted that the system won’t be used blindly and counts with errors: 

“Before we can even think of expanding this tool, we’ll have to be confident it’s effective, and if mistakes happen, we have systems in place to make sure we can correct any false positives (or negatives for that matter).”

“This is brand new tech and there will for sure be growing pains. But the promise of a safer and more inclusive environment for everyone who chooses to play is worth it.”

 

The controversy 

Expectedly, such a move sparked a fiery debate among the gaming community about whether monitoring voice chat violates the privacy of players and what security risks it might pose. While many feel that this is a good step towards eliminating toxicity, there are a number of concerns. 

Firstly, there is not enough information about the recording itself and whether the system will monitor players in cases when the microphone is muted or when players use push-to-talk. What we do know is that the only way to avoid the new feature is to disable voice chat and use a third-party communication tool instead. 

Secondly, the thought of giving AI access to their voice leaves many uncomfortable. However, the biggest security risk comes from the recording itself, as the system can pick up sensitive information such as real names or locations. Not only such information is a goldmine for anyone willing to sell personal data, but file breaches are a real threat even for companies with the highest security. 

Ban for tbagging? 

Voice chat evaluation is not Riot’s first step in curbing toxicity and is seemingly not the last either. The developer previously implemented an anti-cheat technology named Valorant Vanguard, which too sparked controversy due to monitoring players’ activity.

However, Riot is potentially planning another move, which, according to The Valorant Times Twitter account, could take effect as soon as July 1st. Sources claim that Riot may start banning players for tbagging their opponents in Valorant unrated, competitive, spike rush, and deathmatch. At the time of writing, Riot hasn’t confirmed this information nor offered its statement.

While the trolling act of crouching over an opponent’s dead body has been a part of online shooters for ages, some people might consider it a sexual assault, or at the very least find it offensive. This too has been a subject of the community’s recent discussion. Riot also previously asked professional players not to tbag during official VCT matches. 

It remains to be seen whether Riot’s efforts to combat toxicity in its games will be effective and whether the developer will go as far as banning tbagging, but what is certain is that a portion of players will be unhappy with the new rules. Nevertheless, if the game loses some of its player base for the sake of eradicating toxicity, it’s probably a good thing and in the developers’ interest.

Header: Riot Games