Call of Duty publisher Activision says it's banned over 350,000 players in the last year for "racist names or toxic behaviour".
The bans have been handed out across its popular titles Call of Duty: Warzone, Black Ops Cold War, Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Mobile and are based on reports from other players and an "extensive review" of the player-name database, it revealed in a blog post.
It's been less than a year since it first apologised to players for racist slurs, Nazi-related player names and offensive abuse over voice chat, acknowledging it needed to do better. That came in the wake of racial injustice protests in the US following the murder of George Floyd.
"We are committed to delivering a fun gameplay experience for all of our players," the company wrote this week.
"There's no place for toxic behaviour, hate speech or harassment of any kind in our games or our society. We are focused on making positive steps forward, and together celebrating the best fans in the world."
As well as the review of the name database, developers have also implemented new technology to filter potentially offensive text chat and in-game filters to catch potentially offensive user-names, clan tags or profiles.
Activision also acknowledged it still has a long way to go to reach its goal of ensuring a safe place for gamers.
"This is just the start. Addressing this is an ongoing commitment that we will not waver from. We look forward to making progress on this front and coming together with you to share in the fun and joy of playing together."
