Toxicity is everywhere in online video games, that’s just an unfortunate fact. No matter how nice a community may seem to be, it doesn’t take long before someone rains on your parade. You can be having a nice time before BAM, MrIHateFun70 comes in to ruin your day. Maybe even steal your kill too. So, with that in mind, it makes sense that some folks are worried about toxicity in Anthem.
Fortunately, this question had the chance to be answered thanks to Reddit user Hidden_Stapler, who acquired how BioWare would tackle toxicity. Titled ‘How will Anthem deal with toxicity?’ the comment was answered by BioWare’s senior system designer, Christ Schmidt. Schmidt has been with BioWare for nearly ten years, and it is clear he cares about the players.
Schmidt answered that the topic was “near and dear to [him].” He went on to add that “there a few moving parts here,” referring to how there are different variants of toxicity. For example, cheating by using exploits is very different to verbal abuse. Schmidt had no answer about the area of exploiting, as that falls to the “Customer Experience team.” Nonetheless, he did reach out and speak more about general in-game toxicity.
Chris Scmidt Talks Toxicity in Anthem
“There has been quite a bit of talk about [toxicity] recently in game development, led by the Fair Play Alliance,” Schmidt said. “There are some great learnings about methods to combat toxicity that have been shared by several studios for the greater good. But before you launch the game, you don’t really know how much toxicity will surface in your player community.”
Of course, that doesn’t mean that BioWare isn’t prepared for toxicity at all. Far from it.
“The approach we have been taking is a proactive one,” Schmidt continues. “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.”
But will it be enough to make sure Anthem’s community doesn’t turn into a complete hive? Only the future will tell. Thankfully, Anthem is set to come out February 22nd this year. Let’s hope BioWare are up for the task.