Encouraging Positive Player Experiences with Limited-Trial Feature

At Sony Interactive Entertainment, the company behind the PlayStation brand of products, our teams work hard to encourage fun and playful experiences through our innovative products and services. We think that fostering positive player experiences goes beyond enforcing proper player conduct but also empowering our players with the ability to review their actions. Starting from today, through a limited and randomized deployment of a new Nudge feature in the United States and United Kingdom, we’re testing a new way to reduce exposure to potentially offensive content on our network¹. With this feature, we offer our players a second chance to review content that may be harmful to others, giving them an opportunity to make edits before sending them in the PlayStation App chat. 

Versions of the Nudges players may see in the PlayStation App

Randomly selected messages will be assessed for potential Code of Conduct violations. If content is flagged that might violate our Code of Conduct, the player will be prompted to review it. This is an automated process, and the contents of the message will not be reviewed by employees or moderators, unless separately reported after the message is sent.

By receiving the nudge, the player is able to pause, reconsider, and edit their message before it is sent to the other player. The player can still choose to send the message in its original state. We hope that players can treat Nudges as technology similar to object detection technology in cars, empowering players to take corrective action and avoid mistakes before they happen.

Updates Made in the Past Year

In the past year, we built on our efforts with enhanced features and expanded partnerships so our players can focus on what matters most: secure and fun play experiences. 

• A new My Account Support Portal provides users with a centralized portal to view their moderation history and account status at any time, offering greater transparency and empowering players to stay informed about their account activity. 
• We’ve also introduced Passkey as a more secure way to log in to PlayStation Network. This bolsters account security to protect players’ accounts against unauthorized access. 
• Furthermore, by integrating more sophisticated tools to detect and remove harmful content alongside expert human moderation, we’re scaling our efforts to maintain a positive environment for all players.

Looking Ahead

Positive play is a cornerstone of PlayStation. We are excited to see how the Nudge feature will contribute to more fun-loving conversations between our players. Through trial features like nudges and other enhanced safety features, we will continue exploring new and existing technology to improve player experiences on PlayStation so that it continues to be The Best Place to Play, and the best place to interact and engage with other players.

1. The Nudge feature is a limited time pilot with a subset of English language users based in the United States and the United Kingdom. ↩︎