Fortnite introduces new anti-racism and harassment measures

The move follows an in-game event last week focused on racism

Louis Chilton
Thursday 09 July 2020 10:32 BST
Comments
Fortnite: chapter 2 season 3 - trailer

Your support helps us to tell the story

This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.

The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.

Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.

Epic Games has instituted new measures to help combat racism and harassment on the hit multiplayer game Fortnite.

Upon loading the game’s popular Battle Royale mode, players will be greeted with a message that reads: “If you encounter racism or hate in Fortnite towards yourself or others, open the Menu, go to ‘Reporting/Feedback’, then send a player report with ‘Harassment: Using Inappropriate Language’ as the reason.”

The game has also added a button on the splash image page that will steer players towards a site where they can complain about hateful activity, harassment or abuse by others.

Last week, Fornite held an in-game event focused on racism and the Black Lives Matter movement, which players could virtually attend.

We The People featured a panel discussion between Elaine Welteroth, Jemele Hill, Killer Mike, Lil Baby and Van Jones, who served as host.

Another game that is making renewed efforts to combat racism is Activision’s first-person shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.

Activision recently removed the ability to perform an “OK” hand gesture while celebrating an in-game victory. While the company has not confirmed why the gesture was removed, it has been widely assumed that the move was a reaction to the appropriation of the symbol by white supremacists.

On 6 June, developer Infinity Ward announced on Twitter: “There is no place for racist content in our game. This is an effort we began with launch and we need to do a better job. We’re issuing thousands of daily bans of racist and hate-oriented names. But we know we have to do more.”

    Join our commenting forum

    Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

    Comments

    Thank you for registering

    Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in