EA Sports FIFA was able to highlight

EA Sports FIFA was able to highlight

EA has banned permanently the account of a FC 24 Coins player for launching racist remarks against football player Ian Wright. The ban of the 18-year-old follows the trend of major video game companies adopting measures against hate speech and racism including Blizzard which has been active in banning accounts for this conduct.

Racism is a constant problem in games, particularly because of the convenience of anonymity. It's not only words on screens, but it could be the voice of someone in a game or on the team of a player. It's even defined certain communities, even though it's not a reflection of the values of the businesses that create the game in which the communities grow. In the summer of 2016 following Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter protests, several games made statements during game to tackle the issue head on in hopes of bringing players together at a time that the world was in need of unity.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare even took advantage of EA Sports FIFA Coins the occasion to include Black Lives Matter messages in every single loading screen for multiplayer for a certain period of time. Irish FIFA player Patrick O'Brien was unable to play in a game in Ultimate Team while using Ian Wright who caused him to send out messages that resulted in him sending more than 20 messages of racist content to Ian Wright, the real-life athlete on Instagram. The player was brought before court, but because of his excellent conduct in addition to the fact that the player displayed regret, the judge did not declare a criminal conviction. But, EA banned the player for life. David Jackson, VP Brand EA Sports FIFA was able to highlight the importance of this for Eurogamer.

"We are extremely grateful for his partnership and help, and we would like Ian to know that he is receiving our complete support. The year before, Ian was subject to an incredibly racist and sexist verbal assault by an opponent who lost in a game that was part of EA Sports FC 24. This behavior by the player was indefensible on all levels and we will not allow it to continue. We have a Positive Play Charter is the basis for our actions when faced with a situation like this, and so we've decided to prohibit the player for life from playing our games or accessing them. The race slur must end. We're determined to continue our positive work by taking actions to ensure that our communities are fun and fair for all."