In April, Anna Donlon, executive producer of "Valorant," said on Twitter that she would not solo queue in her game because of the harassment that women always face in competitive games. And every time the topic of harassment is brought up, a chorus of "get over its" seems to declare that it is not a problem.

"I'm going to be super honest and say that harassment and bullying in gaming is not a status quo I am comfortable with," Donlon wrote in today's Valorant update." I replied to a colleague's tweet last month about my fear of solo queuing. And I am not alone. We have learned to mute others who harass us. We have learned to mute ourselves to keep the peace. As a result, we sometimes feel that our competitive experience is compromised. We often find ourselves at a disadvantage." [Especially when the gut reaction of some players to criticism of harassment is a sense that "everyone else is too sensitive," "harassment is part of the competitive game," or "harassment is natural," it is not as easy to change things as telling players to be nice It's obvious.

"I can't fix society, and some of these problems are really, really deeply rooted," Donlon wrote. She also acknowledges that simply providing "tools for self-isolation" is not enough of a solution.

"While I am happy with the features we have developed to facilitate competitive, nonverbal communication (such as agents automatically calling out when they see a spiked enemy, or a ping system), all the tools available (like voice chat!) ) to protect those who want to compete," Donlon writes, "I think there is more we can and should do.

As a next step, Donlon said the team will publish a code of conduct "as soon as possible" to establish what is expected of Valorant players and what is expected of them regarding punishment.

"In any competitive match, it is expected that moods will be uplifted and things will be tense. I don't mean to ostracize anyone for their enthusiasm for winning or losing," she writes. 'But it can go beyond infatuation to harassment. That is something we will not tolerate."

Donlon's ambitious goal is to ensure respectful treatment of all players who present themselves, and such an ambitious goal can only have a timeline of "as long as it takes." Despite the efforts of developers, including a "Central Player Dynamics" team dedicated to this issue, League of Legends still has an unwelcome reputation.

Donlon's full statement can be read on the Valorant website. Today's update also includes information about Riot's efforts to lower latency during this time of increased Internet usage.