This Week in Business: Discord’s New Approach to Toxicity, Nintendo’s Content Guidelines, Meta’s Losses
This Week in Business is our weekly recap column, presenting a collection of stats and quotes from recent stories. We aim to shed light on various trends and provide a dash of opinion. Check back every Friday for a new entry.
Discord’s New Approach to Tackling Toxicity
Discord has rolled out a new approach to tackling toxicity on its platform, a problem that has plagued online games and communities for years. The company plans to avoid permanent bans and instead focus on rehabilitating bad actors. This is an interesting strategy, although it remains to be seen how effective it will be.
“We really want to give people who have had a bad day the chance to change,” says Discord senior director of policy Savannah Badalich.
However, this is not the first time such an approach has been attempted. In 2013, Riot Games, developer of League of Legends, also tried to reform toxic players instead of banning them. Unfortunately, the Anti-Defamation League’s 2022 Hate and Harassment Online survey found that 81% of League of Legends players reported experiencing harassment in the game, indicating that the previous approach was not entirely successful.
Nintendo’s Content Guidelines
Nintendo has announced new guidelines for sharing videos and images of its games online. These guidelines cover a wide range of activities, including emulation, unauthorized consoles and software, data mining, and mods. However, some argue that these guidelines are an overreach, as they restrict activities that should be allowed, such as using emulators or playing homebrew games.
It is worth noting that Nintendo is not directly targeting individual content creators but is pressuring corporations to comply with the guidelines. By doing so, Nintendo avoids legal confrontations and maintains control over what content is associated with its brand.
Meta’s Impaired Vision
Meta, formerly known as Facebook, is facing significant losses in its Reality Labs AR/VR division. The company has accumulated operating losses of $46.5 billion since 2019, and these losses are expected to increase in the coming years. Despite the financial struggles, Meta remains committed to developing and scaling its AR/VR ecosystem.
While some still believe in the potential of VR/AR, the overall enthusiasm for the technology seems to have waned. The current offerings have come closer to the promised breakthrough, but the widespread adoption and excitement have yet to materialize.
Other News of the Week
– Insomniac Games apologized for putting the wrong flag in Miles Morales’ home in Spider-Man 2, recognizing the importance of accurate representation.
– Xbox content and services revenue grew by 13% last quarter, thanks to the launch of Starfield and the increased subscriber growth for Game Pass.
– Capcom experienced a 53% increase in sales for the first half of the fiscal year, with games like Street Fighter 6, Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection, and the Resident Evil 4 remake contributing to the success.
– Several layoffs occurred in the gaming industry, including at Hungarian animation studio Digic, PlayStation’s Visual Arts support studio, PlayStation’s Media Molecule studio, and Roblox China.
– Game testers at Experis Game Solutions are pushing to unionize with the help of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) union due to burnout and financial struggles.
As always, the gaming industry is filled with ups and downs, successes and challenges. Stay tuned for more updates next week!