There's no doubt that there's an ongoing battle against toxicity in most forms of popular multiplayer video games. From the lowest rung of ranked all the way up to pro level, developers of multiplayer arenas have worked in varying degrees to attempt to weed out toxicity in their gaming communities and make the playing field a safe and respectful ground for gamers of all types. Rainbow Six: Siege is one such battleground where the community can be less than forgiving, but Ubisoft isn't letting it slide. They've just announced new guidelines and efforts that can see toxic players banned for life.

Announced via the official Rainbow Six Subreddit, Rainbow Six: Siege Community Developer Craig Robinson announced the new guidelines which targetted written or verbal harrassment and hate speech. These guidelines are set for the PC edition of the game. Robinson clarified further down the post in the comments that Microsoft and Sony are in control of their own banning on console games and systems. That said, the new ban system runs a gamut from 2 days to a full-on lifetime ban based on frequency of the offender and the heinousness of the offense.

According to Robinson:

"We will be tracking the frequency at which language that violates the Code of Conduct is used by individual players, and will apply the appropriate ban on a case-by-case basis.

The type of language we will be taking action against is outlined in the following section of the Code of Conduct:

'Any language or content deemed illegal, dangerous, threatening, abusive, obscene, vulgar, defamatory, hateful, racist, sexist, ethically offensive or constituting harassment is forbidden.'

Players that receive a ban for toxicity will receive a pop-up that states their ban was the result of toxic behavior. A global message will also be displayed, similar to the current global broadcasts for cheating. It will read:

'Username has been banned for toxicity.'"

It is of interesting note that players that are banned will be globally broadcast across channels in the game, seemingly like parading the offender about for all to see, but this type of shaming could be a positive step in deterrance for all forms of toxicity. In the past, Ubisoft took a more discreet approach to toxicity. In one 2017 case, two players whose names were never officially released were banned from the official esports organization of the game, the Rainbow Six Pro League. In a time when esports is picking up much more steam and toxicity is becoming a more present concern, Ubisoft may be becoming more transparent in it's efforts against toxicity.

The new efforts against toxicity are set to roll out next week, along with new information for other Rainbow Six plans on the way.

In the meantime, Overwatch League is dealing with its own problems as another Dallas Fuel player finds themselves in hot water for their own toxicity.