Riot also clarified to Polygon that it’s not monitoring all voice activity coming into the computer - just voice communications using Valorant’s official channels. And if you prefer to not have your voice chat captured, you may turn off voice chat. We know collecting voice data is a concern for many of you, but be assured that we would never ship anything if we weren’t comfortable having our own data treated the same way.

When we collect data, we’ll be transparent, we’ll keep it for only as long as necessary, and we’ll protect it as if it were our own. We believe we should collect the absolute minimum data to effectively run our games and continuously improve your experience. I hope see the bigger picture of it all.”Īs part of its announcement, Riot addressed data privacy, too: “I hope that players will see that and understand we can’t moderate without moderating. “Ultimately, it makes sense that we’re doing this,” Dadafshar said. Riot appears to be anticipating similar concerns and is addressing that directly after all, the company has already been dealing with players questioning Vanguard, the Valorant anti-cheat system. “Now, the next step is to not only make text better, but voice as well” Later, Sony clarified that voice chat recordings would only be used to review complaints. Players raised privacy concerns, with some worried that Sony was actively monitoring voice chat at all times. In 2020, Sony was criticized for implementing an unannounced feature that gave the company the ability to record voice chat audio for “moderation review.” The problem wasn’t necessarily that Sony was recording voice chat, but rather that the system wasn’t clearly explained. Voice-chat moderation - beginning with recording player chat - is the next step in moderating toxic Valorant players. “Our goal - our full-on endeavor - is not just to reduce toxicity, but to bring players together as well,” Dadafshar told Polygon.ĭadafshar and the Social and Player Dynamics team have already begun implementing some changes to Valorant that players may have noticed, like detection systems for AFK players and new reporting tools.

The company started the Social and Player Dynamics team, led by producer Sara Dadafshar, to work on all social features in Valorant. Soon after, Riot made a promise to players that it would work to combat this sort of behavior in the game.

And so it was no surprise when players - and Riot developers - reported sexism, racism, and harassment in Valorant. This problem isn’t unique to Valorant, nor is it the first time Riot has tried to moderate toxic behavior in its game communities League of Legends is notorious for this. The new policy is a step in Riot’s attempts to make Valorant a game that’s “safe and inclusive for everyone,” the company said. Riot and Bungie teaming up to sue Valorant and Destiny 2 cheat makers

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