Fighting Online Toxicity: A Key to Boosting Profits in Gaming

The issue of toxicity in online gaming has become a significant concern, with players expecting game studios to take action and new regulations imposing hefty fines on those that fail to protect their users. However, addressing toxicity is not only a moral and legal imperative, but it also makes business sense. Modulate's CEO, Mike Pappas, explains that effective content moderation fosters a positive and safe gaming environment, directly improving player experience and retention. A positive environment, in turn, leads to increased spending, as customers are more likely to return to and spend money in a welcoming and safe space. In fact, a survey by Take This found that 61% of players choose to spend less money in games due to experiencing hate speech or harassment. Moreover, a study by Dr. Constance Steinkuehler showed that average monthly in-game spending by players was $12.09 in toxic titles but doubled to $21.10 in comparable titles with safer and more inclusive communities. The legal cost of toxicity can be significant, with fines of up to 6% of a company's worldwide annual turnover for failing to implement and report user safety policies and procedures. Modulate's ToxMod is an AI-assisted voice moderation tool that can help game studios combat toxicity efficiently. While there is an upfront cost to implementing ToxMod, it can lead to significant financial benefits, including increased player retention and spending. In one title using ToxMod, Modulate tracked a 6.3% increase in active players after just three days and a 27.9% increase by day 21. By minimizing the time needed to listen to harmful audio, moderators using ToxMod can mitigate five to ten times more harms than those reviewing audio manually. Ultimately, the costs of toxicity far outweigh the costs of content moderation, making it a no-brainer for game studios to invest in tools like ToxMod.