Square Enix, known for its beloved Final Fantasy series, is taking steps to protect its employees from toxic fan behavior. This new policy might just be what we need to foster a healthier gaming community!
The developers recently rolled out a Group Customer Harassment Policy to support workers who face abuse from overly passionate fans. As they put it, if someone crosses the line into harassment, they might be cut off from support services and products. That’s a bold move!
The policy outlines various forms of harassment that are simply unacceptable. According to Square Enix, actions like violence, intimidation, or even persistent inquiries can create an unsafe environment for their staff and disrupt other customers’ experiences too. They clarified: “Square Enix will not tolerate harassment and will take action as necessary.” You can peek at the full details of their stance here.
Harassment:
- Act of violence, violent behavior
- Abusive language, intimidation, coercion
- Defamation/slander, denial of personality, personal attacks (including online)
- Persistent inquiries, repeated visits
- Trespassing
- Unlawful restraint
- Discriminatory speech and conduct
- Infringement of privacy: taking pictures or making videos without consent
- Sexual harassment and stalking behaviors.
Undue demand:
- Unreasonable changes or exchanges of product or requests for monetary compensation.
- Excessive requests for products and services exceeding social norms.
- Unreasonable demands for punishment against employees.
This initiative comes after voice actors from the franchise have voiced their frustrations over-aggressive fan reactions tied to storylines. Brianna White, the voice behind Aerith in the FF7 remake trilogy, even took to social media with a heartfelt message urging fans, especially those involved in shipping, to chill out a bit. Her advice? “Touch noses,” which sounds like something you’d do during childhood squabbles but is spot-on when it comes to diffusing tension among fans!
When my sibling & I would fight as kids, my mom would tell us to touch noses until we inevitably started giggling and got over it. I say this with love: FF7 shippers need to touch noses. We're all the same family in loving these characters so relax 💕
— Briana White (@ItsBrianaWhite) December 19, 2024
If you’ve ever dabbled in fandom culture, especially around character pairings, you know how heated debates can get! While sharing opinions about characters makes being a fan fun, there’s a line that shouldn’t be crossed.
