In a recent Twitter post, Hi-Rez's MOBA Smite posted that after an extensive chat log review, 5,000 accounts have been banned due to racist comments or behavior. Because of the game's vast roster of gods from a wide variety of cultures and races, it should be clear that their platform has no room for racism or players who do not respect the differences of others.
In the tweet, Hi-Rez stated that it had completed a full review of the game's chat log in order to find and remove accounts with any racist behavior towards other players. With the recent protests that have been occurring in streets all over the world, Smite wants to make sure that it defines which side of the fight it is on. Despite the fact that playable characters may be from different cultures, players can see them cooperating with one another to defeat the enemy, which is the goal that Smite wants to reach in its real-life community.
Hi-Rez's tweet also mentioned a new feature to its method of reporting players, allowing users to report players for acting racist within the chat or over voice communications. Despite these actions, Hi-Rez says that it is far from done, as it wants to ensure that its game is a hate-free environment. It is likely that Smite's banned accounts were speaking against the protesters and what they stood for, since the game only has a limited form of communication between players.
George Floyd's death, the main inspiration for this new reporting tag as well as the countless protests worldwide, has revitalized the equal rights that every person should have, no matter their culture or skin color. Smite, as a game that incorporates characters from a variety of different cultures around the world, is dedicated to a hate free and racist free environment among their players.
Although this new addition will not end racism and hate across the game's players, it will certainly help the developers to more easily discover and remove disrespectful users. Hi-Rez wants to encourage people to think before they speak and post within its games, because no matter what the players' race or culture, they should be treated with respect by all.
Smite is free to play for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Switch.