Fortnite introduces new anti-racism and harassment measures

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

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.”