Singapore – Top game developers Ubisoft and Riot Games have recently announced ‘Zero Harm in Comms’, a technological partnership that aims to enhance the reach of their artificial intelligence-based solutions in order to prevent harmful player interactions. The project aims to develop a cross-industry shared database and labelling ecosystem for in-game data that will improve the training of AI-based preemptive moderation tools for detecting and mitigating disruptive behaviour.
The ‘Zero Harm in Comms’ research project will allow both companies to explore how to lay the technological foundations for future industry collaboration and create the framework that guarantees the ethics and the privacy of this initiative. It is expected that the resulting database should cover every type of player and in-game behaviour with their competitive games and diverse portfolio, in order to better train Riot Games’ and Ubisoft’s AI systems.
According to the active members of the Fair Play Alliance, Ubisoft, and Riot Games, the creation of safe and meaningful online experiences in games can only come from collective action and knowledge sharing. As such, this initiative builds on both companies’ larger journey of developing gaming structures that foster more rewarding social experiences while avoiding harmful interactions.
Yves Jacquier, executive director of Ubisoft La Forge, observed that, “Disruptive player behaviours is an issue that we take very seriously but also one that is very difficult to solve.”
Wesley Kerr, head of technology research at Riot Games, also mentioned, “Disruptive behaviour isn’t a problem that is unique to games – every company that has an online social platform is working to address this challenging space. That is why we’re committed to working with industry partners like Ubisoft who believe in creating safe communities and fostering positive experiences in online spaces.”
Jacquire added, “At Ubisoft, we have been working on concrete measures to ensure safe and enjoyable experiences, but we believe that, by coming together as an industry, we will be able to tackle this issue more effectively. Through this technological partnership with Riot Games, we are exploring how to better prevent in-game toxicity as designers of these environments with a direct link to our communities.”
The ‘Zero Harm in Comms’ research project, which is still in its early stages, is the first step in an ambitious cross-industry project that aims to benefit the entire player community in the future. As part of the first research exploration, Ubisoft and Riot have committed to sharing the initial phase of the experiment’s learnings with the entire industry next year, regardless of the outcome.
Kerr said, “This project is just an example of the wider commitment and work that we’re doing across Riot to develop systems that create healthy, safe, and inclusive interactions with our games.”
