PlayStation working on feature to punish toxic players

Toxicity in online games could soon be a thing of the past for PlayStation users, according to a new patent.

There are few things worse than dealing with toxic players in the likes of Call of Duty and Fortnite. After Overwatch 2 released, a number of players revealed that they’d opted to mute the voice chat altogether to avoid the onslaught of name-calling and general nastiness that they’d experienced in the previous game. Meanwhile, after the release of Modern Warfare II (and coinciding with the release of Warzone 2.0), Activision announced that those found to be engaging in offensive chat could be muted from all in-game chat functions by moderators, which was certainly a positive step forward.

Take a look at some gameplay from Modern Warfare II below.

Now though, as ComicBook reports, Sony Interactive Entertainment has filed a patent for a system which would reward good behaviour in players and punish those purposely going out of their way to make things less enjoyable for others. According to the patent, the rewards could include virtual points, medals and accolades.

As for those who get flagged for toxicity, they’d apparently get the chance to appeal, and this would be reviewed by a human mod. An example given seems to suggest that they’d accept “cousin snatching or using controller” as an excuse.

Games companies have been trying for years to put a stop to in-game toxicity, so whether or not this could actually do so remains to be seen. You’d imagine that any level of deterrent would help, but chances are that some less-than-pleasant behaviours would still slip through the cracks.

As ComicBook notes, just because a patent for this system has been filed, that doesn’t mean that it’ll actually be created and incorporated into Sony's consoles, but we’ll have to watch this space. Anything that can be done to minimise toxicity even slightly can only be a good thing.