Xbox has introduced its new enforcement strike system, and while it seems to be a good-faith effort to help curb toxicity on the platform, pretty much nobody seems to be happy with the initial rollout.
"The system is similar to demerit strikes used in driver’s license systems in many countries," Xbox explains in its announcement. "For example, a player that has received two strikes will be suspended from the platform for one day, whereas a player that receives four strikes will be suspended for seven days. Players have a total of eight strikes and, once reached, will be suspended from Xbox’s social features like messaging, parties and party chat, multiplayer and others for one year from the enforcement date."
Certain types of violations will apply more strikes to an account than others, and a chart in the announcement suggests that while you might get one strike for cheating, you could be subject to three strikes for hate speech. Each strike remains on your record for six months.
- 136,000 Call of Duty accounts have gotten banned since ranked launched for Black Ops 6: "We’re not slowing down in our mission to shut down cheaters"
- Fortnite is now giving cheaters "second chances" with 1-year bans that allow you to use the battle royale like it's Discord and do absolutely nothing else until you're freed from the void
While in general these enforcements only go up to a maximum of a one year suspension - which would still allow you to access your digital games - the company says that in extreme cases it "retains the ability to permanently suspend all functionality of an account including access to purchases."
The 'you wouldn't have survived MW2 lobbies back in 2009' crowd is predictably criticizing this move as they do any efforts to take action against online toxicity, but the more vocal critiques of the system are coming from those who feel it doesn't go far enough.
8 strikes is so funny, like alright bro u called that dude a slur 8 times, thats one too many, no fortnite for 1 year https://t.co/FpZRXyiS1eAugust 15, 2023
dunno about you but this is a L for @Xbox cheaters only getting 1 strike... yall just letting them get away with huh https://t.co/1OQKY1dBHzAugust 15, 2023
I agree with enforcing certain, and repeated action, but a 1-day ban for swearing? Is that like full on, over the top swearing, or just a single f-bomb being dropped?August 15, 2023
But hey, look at the positives: "If I'm reading this correctly, it sounds like I can call someone a fucking cunt once every 4 months and only ever receive 24 hour bans," greenyquinn says on Reddit. "Very very reasonable."
"The feedback is helpful and I'm sure we will want to continue to tune the system," Xbox boss Phill Spencer says in response to one comment. "The visibility into how the system works along with the transparency reports we put out will allow people to see our progress and how the systems are working. It's an important topic."
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