Xbox's New Strike System Can Ban Toxic Players for a Year

Xbox introduces a new strike system to curb toxic behavior online.

By Tanner Dedmon

Xbox has introduced a new system for punishing repeatedly toxic players that can result in the most egregious offenders being banned from basically everything interactive that Xbox offers for a full year. The system in question which was revealed on Tuesday operates off of "strikes" where Xbox users' punishments ramp up the more strikes that they receive until a strike falls off of their account and they get to start fresh. The new system is in effect now, and with it, everyone gets a blank slate to give them an opportunity to turn their behavior around lest they get their online capabilities restricted.

To give a better idea of how the system works, Xbox compared it to the way that "points" are accrued on people's driver licenses with enough points resulting in that license beings suspended or otherwise taken away. Those who do get punished by violating Xbox's terms that govern how players should conduct themselves online will also have the chance to review their own enforcement history so that there'll be no surprise whenever they hit the maximum number of strikes against their accounts.

"The new system attaches strikes to every enforcement, ranging in severity based on inappropriate activity. Each player will now have a view of their enforcement history including strikes and the overall impact these have on their player record," Xbox said. "This revised system gives players a better understanding of enforcement severity and the cumulative effect of multiple enforcements."

Players can accrue up to a total of eight strikes, and once that happens, you're gone from essentially all online services for a year and will have to play your games solo.

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"For example, a player that has received two strikes will be suspended from the platform for one day, whereas a player that receives four strikes will be suspended for seven days. Players have a total of eight strikes and, once reached, will be suspended from Xbox's social features like messaging, parties and party chat, multiplayer and others for one year from the enforcement date. All strikes received stay on a player's record for six months. Today, players will all begin with a blank slate, or zero strikes."

Xbox's new strike system is in effect as of August 15th.

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