Companies are making a stand against racism as the protests on the killing of George Floyd in the U.S. and around the world continue. Whilst we still need to see concrete steps being taken from many of these companies, at least some are moving forward with concrete plans such as gaming companies. One group, Infinity Ward and Activision, have announced that they will be implementing measures to prevent racism in “Call Of Duty”.

The first thing they did is to delay the release of the new seasons for “Modern Warfare”, “Warzone” and “Mobile” which they posted on Twitter that  “now is not the time” and “that It’s time for those speaking up for equality, justice and change to be seen and heard.”

Next move is a more concrete move on racism by monitoring and identifying racist material being used by offending players. One method is the use of the customised names in place of the usual gamertags. Players have reported seeing some custom names using the n-word and other racial slurs. Whilst racism is not a problem unique in “Call of Duty” as other multiplayer games also experience such issue, “Call of Duty” is one of the biggest game titles and should take lead on cracking down on racism in the game.

Kotaku reports on this, showing a screenshot of some custom names that use racial slurs.

As for the measures that Infinity Ward will implement, they also officially announced it on Twitter that putting filters, limit on name changes, and permanently banning repeat offenders:

The question is if the measures are adequate enough to minimise or prevent racism on “Call of Duty” given that offenders may be able to find some ways to go around the filters and bans. But it is a start, as each step to prevent hate and racism matters, not matter how big or small that step is, as long as it is a step forward, not backward.

It still remains to be seen though as many companies pay lipservice in their support for such causes in order to avoid a backlash or be seen as concerned. We’ll find out soon if such filters and measures were really put into place.