In recent times, Xbox has been a major part of cross-platform play becoming more of a standard. Phil Spencer, the CEO of Xbox, has made it no secret that he wants to see gamers across all consoles, whether it's Nintendo, Sony, PC, or Xbox, all play together. However, online play isn't the only thing he might want the platforms to share. In an interview with the New York Times, Phil Spencer discussed the concept of the "metaverse" and toxic communities in the gaming space.

In regards to harassment, Spencer had an idea for a solution: cross-platform bans. He noted that it would be difficult to pull off, but having players be banned from one service and then subsequently others, would reduce bad behavior online.

Something I would love us to be able to do--this is a hard one as an industry--is when somebody gets banned in one of our networks, is there a way for us to ban them across other networks?

A secondary concept he considered was having a "blocked user list" that would carry over from Xbox Live to PlayStation Network, and everything in between, easily allowing for users to avoid harassment across all platforms. Currently, Microsoft is working on an AI that can monitor game chats, and can even detect when conversations begin to "get to a destructive point".

Source

 

[diggeloid]

This will only hurt Sony and Nintendo because they actually have customers to ban.

 

[XDel]

It's beginning to feel an awful lot like China...
...all around the world...

 

[jahmane]

Awesome, a bot picked up I said a slur once on Mario Kart 8 Deluxe VC and all of a sudden I'm permanently banned from PS Plus, Xbox Live, Steam community features, Discord, Twitter, itch.io, YouTube, Skype, Newgrounds, MySpace, Match.com, WhatsApp, and even my local KFC.

Not "my local KFC" though I don't think cross-platform banning is efficient enough. What happens when the PS6 comes out? I'll tell you what happens, toxicity returns! They should ban potential troublemakers at birth, no need to re-ban anyone

 

[regnad]

I'd be fine with it banning gamer bros for saying slurs n shit, but it gets dicey when it comes to console bans due to modding.

I think it depends. That’s part of the risk of hacking.

I have never been banned for being an asshole because I’m not an asshole. Pretty simple. I HAVE been banned for using a hacked console, but that’s the way it goes and that’s the consequences for the decision I made.

 

[raxadian]

And can also go horrible wrong. Thankfully is not likely to actually happen.

 

[Viri]

I think it depends. That’s part of the risk of hacking.

I have never been banned for being an asshole because I’m not an asshole. Pretty simple. I HAVE been banned for using a hacked console, but that’s the way it goes and that’s the consequences for the decision I made.

I've also never been banned for being an ass hole. I only got banned from a gatcha game, that I wanted to quit anyway. But yea, people need to learn to use the ignore and block feature. Big tech teaming up scares me.

 

[jt_1258]

in the case of say banning them from the same game across platforms it honestly makes sense. if you are too toxic to be playing the game on one system you are clearly too toxic to be playing that same game on any other system

 

[UltraDolphinRevolution]

Depends what the ban is for: Taunting and harsh language (which is part of normal male behavior) or cheating?
Smash Bros on Wii U has an automated system which sends the player to Limbo if enough people complain about your playstyle. I was often the victim of that system due to sore losers. I not only stopped taunting but even let the other players sometimes almost win to not hurt their ego.

 

[chrisrlink]

I think it depends. That’s part of the risk of hacking.

I have never been banned for being an asshole because I’m not an asshole. Pretty simple. I HAVE been banned for using a hacked console, but that’s the way it goes and that’s the consequences for the decision I made.

thats the thing though if the add cross ban for hacking in the mix i can see a lot of lawsuits piling up if they impliment that (even sony's cross gen ban for ps3-5 is unjust sure it sounds good to them but just because i hacked my ps3 doesn't mean I'll hack my ps5 but by doing that it'll make me want too then (as i said i use different account's for that reason i used a burner account during the hen days/ pre evilnat 4.88 to activate my profile now due to evilnat 4.88 you don't even need a psn account at all just a local user to activate to use .rap files/psn games

 

[chrisrlink]

I'd be fine with it banning gamer bros for saying slurs n shit, but it gets dicey when it comes to console bans due to modding.

wait gamer bros use slurs funny i watch there Pokemon multiverse tornament videos fun to watch those

 

[orangy57]

when the jannies ban my 23rd nintendonysoft account for saying racial slurs in a public lobby:

 

[Thesolcity]

If you support this type of idea you not only kiss the boot, you’re already in a sexless marriage with it.

 

[Spider_Man]

and that's why i use different accounts (even emails) as main accounts on different systems and never put accounts on hacked consoles ever since the ps4 9.0 hax i did a reinit on my ps4 Just in case before hacking it to remove my psn accout

I think you havent read the article.

You dont need alternative accounts.

It clearly states his idea for trolls and bullies that abuse the service and its fellow users.

And rightfully, they deserve the be banned, if they bully on xbox live, hey presto, ill sign in on playstation and so this information should be shared to prevent them from carrying on bullying from a different console.

As this is needed and implemented on each console, now if said games are cross play then its a good idea that if they abuse the service or bully, they are banned from thar game regardless of the console.

 

[Jayro]

What the hell kind of mod mentality is this.

It's called a God complex.

 

[RichardTheKing]

Automated bans from one service are already heavily flawed, but this dipshit wants bans to affect ALL services?
Great job at displaying just how much of a non-player asshole you are, Spencer; if you were a player, you'd already know why this idea is utterly stupid.

I mean, how can any bot determine nuances and context? What if a British player wants to go for a smoke (disgusting and unhealthy, btw) and tells his friends "I'm gonna go smoke a fag brb" or something? He's not at all talking about harming a gay person, he's talking about a cigarette!
Or what if someone's bilingual, and is talking to a roommate or family member and says "black" in Spanish ("n****")? He's not being racist; he's simply communicating to another person using another language!
And now Spencer wants bots to ban people from not just Microsoft services, but also Sony and Nintendo, based on context-less usage of "banned words"? Motherfucker, he's delusional!

 

[RichardTheKing]

Oh wow, GBAtemp censors Spanish "black". Great job proving my point there, fellas.

 

[kehkou]

I'd be fine with it banning gamer bros for saying slurs n shit, but it gets dicey when it comes to console bans due to modding.

Yes, bans for modding is...arbitrary...but, we can all agree that banning online cheaters (real cheaters, not just pallet swaps, etc.) is a good thing. The only way I can see it working crossplat is banning by email account.

 

[ciaomao]

This is not going to go well. If the potential punishment is being banned from online services across all platforms, then every case has to be manually reviewed by a human.

why?

 

[Julie_Pilgrim]

I’ve got an even more controversial idea:
Segregation

Put the trash people only with the other trash people

you know this sounds really familiar, I feel like we've done something like this before hmmmm if i only i could remember what it was called *looks at school*

 

[Purple_Shyguy]

Saw a image of a guy banned from Forza for "non-consentual sexual imagery"

He made a basic looking image of a babe on his car. Like the classic aeroplane pin up ladies. Fully clothed. Literally nothing wrong with it. Banned.

This idiot wants him banned across all platforms for idiotic reasons like this? Say the wrong word that offends someone and have thousands of dollars and thousands of hours of saves ripped from you?

Fuck off