Activision has implemented filters to detect player names, clan tags, and text chat deemed offensive in "Call of Duty: Warzone" and other games in the series, and over the past year has implemented filters to detect "racist names and harmful behavior" in more than 350,000 of Call of Duty accounts have been banned, and other noteworthy moves have been made in an effort to eliminate harmful behavior. There's more: In an update posted today, Activision says it will expand player reporting options and moderation, and will also take steps to reduce harmful behavior in voice chat.

"Our goal is to provide players with the tools they need to manage their own gameplay experience, combined with a mandatory approach to addressing hate speech, racism, sexism and harassment," Activision said. Specifically, this means increased resources dedicated to detecting and stopping bad behavior, ongoing review of enforcement policies, "scrutiny of databases to bring the system up to the latest standards," and better communication with players.

350,000 account bans is impressive, but far short of the 475,000 banned for cheating over the past year. More interesting in today's message, however, is the promise to crack down on harmful voice chat. In-game voices have largely escaped scrutiny so far.

However, Riot recently announced plans to begin recording all of Valorant's voice chats so that complaints of abusive behavior in voice chat can be verified; Valorant players may find this scheme offensive, but if they do, voice chat use; Activision did not reveal how (or when) it plans to address voice-based harmful behavior, but may be considering a similar approach for Warzone and other Call of Duty games in the future.

"We know we have a long way to go to achieve our goals. This is just the beginning. Our commitment to tackle this issue is an ongoing commitment that we will never waver from." We look forward to making progress on this front and sharing the joy and pleasure of playing together with you all.