Latest news with #PEGI
Forbes
08-08-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Enhancing Gaming Experience Through AI And Innovation
Anees Khan - Vice President - Wipro. Regulatory frameworks are evolving rapidly—from China's strict gaming time limits for minors and real-name verification systems to the U.K.'s proposed Online Safety Act mandating age-appropriate design and the enforcement of Pan European Game Information (PEGI) ratings. These interventions underscore the urgency for robust gaming moderation where artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as a transformative force, enabling real-time detection of toxic behavior and fostering safer digital playgrounds for all. In the online gaming industry, where millions of players interact in real time across diverse platforms, ensuring a safe and inclusive environment is both a necessity and a growing challenge. With 81% of teens acknowledging harassment in video games as a serious issue and 68% of players saying they've experienced severe harassment while playing games online, the stakes are high. As the industry surges toward a projected $300 billion valuation by 2029, governments worldwide are stepping in to protect younger audiences. Gaming moderation is gaining strategic importance not only as a means to uphold community standards but also as a cornerstone of user safety through age-appropriate and respectful interactions. The Moderation Challenge In Gaming The gaming landscape serves as a dynamic social ecosystem where players engage through voice, text and even gestures within immersive virtual environments. This heightened interactivity, while engaging, introduces complex challenges ranging from managing vast volumes of diverse content and mitigating toxic behavior to ensuring cultural sensitivity and safeguarding freedom of expression. Addressing issues requires a nuanced and scalable approach that balances community safety with the integrity of user experience. This is where AI can be leveraged as a strategic enabler, augmenting human judgment with scalable and intelligent support. In my role leading trust and safety teams at my company, I have closely tracked the growth of AI-led innovation on global platforms and how these initiatives are reshaping digital safety frameworks by designing scalable moderation strategies and humanizing automated systems. By integrating AI-driven moderation tools, gaming platforms can foster safer, more inclusive environments while preserving the integrity of human empathy. Artificial Intelligence: The Game Changer AI brings speed, scalability and adaptability to gaming moderation and player experience. Here are five ways I see this unfold: AI-powered natural language processing (NLP) models are revolutionizing how in-game communication is monitored. These models understand context, sarcasm and evolving slang, which significantly reduces false positives and improves players' trust. With advancements in speech-to-text and sentiment analysis, voice moderation is becoming increasingly effective by enabling near-instantaneous detection of inappropriate behavior during live interactions. AI excels at identifying behavioral anomalies by analyzing player activity over time. This helps in detecting cheating and grooming. Machine learning models that are trained on historical gameplay data can easily spot irregularities such as sudden skill surges and erratic movement patterns, indicating the use of bots or hacks. Given the global nature of gaming, AI moderation systems are being trained on multilingual and culturally diverse datasets to better ensure accurate and respectful enforcement localized to regions. These systems can interpret regional slang, idioms and context-specific expressions, hence minimizing both over-censorship and under-enforcement. This cultural adaptability helps ensure that moderation is fair, inclusive and aligned with local norms and expectations. As user-generated content like avatars, skins and custom maps becomes more prevalent in gaming, AI-driven image recognition tools are essential for scanning and flagging inappropriate visuals. These tools can help detect harmful symbols, explicit imagery or copyright violations before content is published. Additionally, generative AI is being used to simulate moderation scenarios by helping developers refine detection algorithms and improve overall system accuracy. AI is transforming how support is delivered in gaming by enabling near-real-time responsiveness to player issues. Intelligent virtual agents and predictive analytics allow platforms to detect and resolve problems such as access disruptions, account anomalies or gameplay glitches almost instantaneously. Trained to understand player context and urgency, these systems ensure that the support is fast, relevant and empathetic. By minimizing downtime and enhancing responsiveness, AI-driven support can reinforce trust and keep players immersed in uninterrupted experiences. Challenges To Consider Despite its transformative potential, AI in gaming moderation brings critical challenges that must be addressed. Ensuring fairness and avoiding bias in AI systems is paramount, as algorithms can inadvertently amplify discriminatory patterns from training data or misinterpret cultural nuances and sarcasm. Privacy concerns also loom large as AI systems often rely on extensive player data that demands transparent usage policies, strong encryption and adherence to regulatory compliance. Integrating AI into existing gaming infrastructure demands technical agility and thoughtful design to ensure seamless operation. Above all, human oversight remains indispensable not only to review edge cases and appeals but also to uphold empathy and contextual understanding in moderation decisions. Innovation At The Intersection The future of gaming moderation lies in the synergy between AI and human expertise. Here are some innovative approaches shaping the next generation of moderation: 1. Hybrid Moderation: Combining AI's speed with human empathy helps ensure nuanced decisions. AI can handle the bulk of moderation while humans review edge cases and appeals. 2. Player Reputation: AI can help build dynamic reputation scores based on behavior and encourage positive interactions by enabling community-driven moderation. 3. Personalized Moderation: Just as players customize graphics and controls, AI can enable personalized moderation filters, allowing users to set their own thresholds for language and content sensitivity. 4. Federated Learning: This privacy-preserving technique allows AI models to learn from decentralized data across games and platforms without compromising user privacy, enhancing moderation without centralizing sensitive data. As gaming ecosystems grow more immersive and interconnected, the responsibility to ensure safe, respectful and inclusive environments is paramount. The future of moderation in gaming hinges on robust trust and safety frameworks, ones that empower both players and platforms to co-create healthier digital spaces. By enabling proactive intervention and preserving the integrity of gameplay, these innovations can unlock new frontiers for engagement. From pixels to performance, this is the blueprint for a safer, smarter and more interactive gaming future. Forbes Business Development Council is an invitation-only community for sales and biz dev executives. Do I qualify?
The Irish Sun
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Top 10 top tips for parents to keep their kids safe online when playing Fortnite this half-term
WITH half-term fast approaching, parents across the country will be fretting over keeping the kids entertained. As much as we'd all love to pretend that our darling angels will be outside in the garden from dawn till dusk, we know the reality is a little different. Advertisement 15 There are over 650 million registered players on Fortnite Credit: Epic Games Despite our best intentions, it's not long before they are reaching for the gaming controller to fire up the console ( And we let them - because it's only human to want a little break from all the chaos. And with 650 million registered players on the video game Fortnite, chances are your kids are playing it too. 15 Understand parental controls to make gaming safe for kids Credit: Epic Games So it's vital for parents to understand the game and the parental controls that come with it. Advertisement Read more Gaming News Yes, you really do have the power to limit their fancy flossing and Mythic machine gun looting. 15 Each of the 190,000 gaming experiences have PEGI age ratings Credit: Epic Games Here, KNOW YOUR GAME Fortnite is a hub which offers more than 190,000 different gaming experiences, from Battle Royale - where players fight it out to be the last one standing - to Rocket Racing, a neon-crazy car racer. Advertisement All experiences have a PEGI age rating from 3+ to 12. So make sure your kid is playing an appropriate mode. Most read in Gaming Review 15 It's vital you know who your child is playing with online Credit: Epic Games CABINED ACCOUNTS If your child is under 13 - below the legal age of digital consent in the UK - they will be placed in a Cabined Account. This is designed to create a safe and inclusive space for younger players. Gamers in a Cabined Account will have restricted access to certain Fortnite features, like voice or text chat until a parent provides consent. This can be done via an alert to an adult's email or by entering a pin code. Advertisement 15 Set a pin code acceptance for each friend request your child gets Credit: Epic Games CUSTOMISE CONTROL Social permissions allow you to manage who your child talks to on Fortnite. Friends Only means they can only chat with pals who have had a friend request accepted. Friends & Teammates extends this to anyone in their squad (on your kid's team) and Everybody means your child can talk to anyone on the game. Or you can disable voice and text chat entirely. You can also adjust any mature language filters too. 15 Time limits are a great way to manage screen time Credit: Epic Games Advertisement TIME LIMITS This is a brilliant way to ensure the kids aren't spending all day on Fortnite. Set a window of gaming which kicks them off after a certain period - and allows you to kick them out into the garden. It repeats daily so you only have to do it once. There's also a summary of the total time spent on the game each week in the Time Reports tab of Parental Controls. This can be a reality check and decent nudge to introduce time limits. It's a great way to manage screen time. 15 Control in-game V-Bucks spending Credit: Epic Games WHO'S WHO One of the biggest worries for parents is knowing who their child is communicating with online. This fear is easily conquered by setting up a parental pin. This has to be inputted to accept every friend request received. Advertisement This way you can check with your kid to make sure that SillyGoat2018 is actually annoying little Johnny next door - and not a complete stranger. 15 Fortnite is fun for the whole family so get involved Credit: Epic Games SPEND WISELY Purchasing permissions within Fortnite are a useful way of budgeting those highly-prized V-Bucks, an in-game virtual currency that can buy extras like skins (outfits), emotes (special dances) and gaming bundles - I mean, who doesn't want to play as the Giant Chicken. Parents can set purchasing permissions to approve any real-money buys using Epic Games payment. Advertisement 15 Keep an eye out for phishers and scammers offering in-game treats Credit: Epic Games FRIENDS AND ENEMIES Make sure your child is aware of over-friendly offers while playing Fortnite. In fact, this is a big red flag for any online game - 15 You can disable voice and text chat entirely Credit: Epic Games If another player is offering gifts of V-bucks or other items, make sure your child knows who it is. It's an innocent and easy mistake for them to make - befriending someone who has showered them with gifts, only to find out it's a phisher or scammer. Advertisement Cut out the risk with pin-request befriending - drop those unwanted nasties like a Legendary Sniper Rifle headshot. 15 Jam along with Fortnite Festival mode Credit: Epic Games GET INVOLVED Fortnite isn't just for little kids, it's for big ones as well. There are plenty of split-screen modes which you can play along with your child like LEGO Fortnite Odyssey or jam along Guitar Hero-style on the Fortnite Festival music stage. 15 Split-screen games are great for family gaming Credit: Epic Games Advertisement It helps to dispel the myth that Fortnite is 'The Devil' and really bad for children. It helps to calm any fears you might have had of what content they are being exposed to (see, Peely the giant yellow banana isn't that bad after all!). 15 Turn off interactive AI features if you don't want your child to interact with NPCs Credit: Epic Games TOP OF THE BOTS You can choose whether your child can interact with AI features in the game. This includes talking to non-playable characters (NPCs), like Darth Vader in the latest Battle Royale season. Gamers can have an interactive chat where the NPC responds. You can switch this off in the Parental Controls section - just find the 'Allow voice and written communication with AI Features' setting and turn it off. Advertisement 15 Parental controls are simple to set up Credit: Epic Games GET SET UP You don't need to be a gaming god or YouTuber to set up these parental controls. Head to 15
Scottish Sun
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Top 10 top tips for parents to keep their kids safe online when playing Fortnite this half-term
As bored kids fire-up their consoles during the holidays, here's a useful guide to understanding multiplayer masterpiece Fortnite - and yes, you can limit their Mythic gun looting and fancy Flossing FORT PROCESS Top 10 top tips for parents to keep their kids safe online when playing Fortnite this half-term Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) WITH half-term fast approaching, parents across the country will be fretting over keeping the kids entertained. As much as we'd all love to pretend that our darling angels will be outside in the garden from dawn till dusk, we know the reality is a little different. 15 There are over 650 million registered players on Fortnite Credit: Epic Games Despite our best intentions, it's not long before they are reaching for the gaming controller to fire up the console (PlayStation 5 in our household, sorry Xbox fans). And we let them - because it's only human to want a little break from all the chaos. And with 650 million registered players on the video game Fortnite, chances are your kids are playing it too. 15 Understand parental controls to make gaming safe for kids Credit: Epic Games So it's vital for parents to understand the game and the parental controls that come with it. Read more Gaming News HELL YEAH DOOM: The Dark Ages review: This cacophony of chaos is Game of the Year material Yes, you really do have the power to limit their fancy flossing and Mythic machine gun looting. 15 Each of the 190,000 gaming experiences have PEGI age ratings Credit: Epic Games Here, Epic Games - who created Fortnite - offers 10 top tips for parents so their kids can 'ready up' for Fortnite safely. KNOW YOUR GAME Fortnite is a hub which offers more than 190,000 different gaming experiences, from Battle Royale - where players fight it out to be the last one standing - to Rocket Racing, a neon-crazy car racer. All experiences have a PEGI age rating from 3+ to 12. So make sure your kid is playing an appropriate mode. 15 It's vital you know who your child is playing with online Credit: Epic Games CABINED ACCOUNTS If your child is under 13 - below the legal age of digital consent in the UK - they will be placed in a Cabined Account. This is designed to create a safe and inclusive space for younger players. Gamers in a Cabined Account will have restricted access to certain Fortnite features, like voice or text chat until a parent provides consent. This can be done via an alert to an adult's email or by entering a pin code. 15 Set a pin code acceptance for each friend request your child gets Credit: Epic Games CUSTOMISE CONTROL Social permissions allow you to manage who your child talks to on Fortnite. Friends Only means they can only chat with pals who have had a friend request accepted. Friends & Teammates extends this to anyone in their squad (on your kid's team) and Everybody means your child can talk to anyone on the game. Or you can disable voice and text chat entirely. You can also adjust any mature language filters too. 15 Time limits are a great way to manage screen time Credit: Epic Games TIME LIMITS This is a brilliant way to ensure the kids aren't spending all day on Fortnite. Set a window of gaming which kicks them off after a certain period - and allows you to kick them out into the garden. It repeats daily so you only have to do it once. There's also a summary of the total time spent on the game each week in the Time Reports tab of Parental Controls. This can be a reality check and decent nudge to introduce time limits. It's a great way to manage screen time. 15 Control in-game V-Bucks spending Credit: Epic Games WHO'S WHO One of the biggest worries for parents is knowing who their child is communicating with online. This fear is easily conquered by setting up a parental pin. This has to be inputted to accept every friend request received. This way you can check with your kid to make sure that SillyGoat2018 is actually annoying little Johnny next door - and not a complete stranger. 15 Fortnite is fun for the whole family so get involved Credit: Epic Games SPEND WISELY Purchasing permissions within Fortnite are a useful way of budgeting those highly-prized V-Bucks, an in-game virtual currency that can buy extras like skins (outfits), emotes (special dances) and gaming bundles - I mean, who doesn't want to play as the Giant Chicken. Parents can set purchasing permissions to approve any real-money buys using Epic Games payment. 15 Keep an eye out for phishers and scammers offering in-game treats Credit: Epic Games FRIENDS AND ENEMIES Make sure your child is aware of over-friendly offers while playing Fortnite. In fact, this is a big red flag for any online game - FC (aka FIFA), Call of Duty etc. If you're not sure who's in your child's gaming party/lobby, find out. 15 You can disable voice and text chat entirely Credit: Epic Games If another player is offering gifts of V-bucks or other items, make sure your child knows who it is. It's an innocent and easy mistake for them to make - befriending someone who has showered them with gifts, only to find out it's a phisher or scammer. Cut out the risk with pin-request befriending - drop those unwanted nasties like a Legendary Sniper Rifle headshot. 15 Jam along with Fortnite Festival mode Credit: Epic Games GET INVOLVED Fortnite isn't just for little kids, it's for big ones as well. There are plenty of split-screen modes which you can play along with your child like LEGO Fortnite Odyssey or jam along Guitar Hero-style on the Fortnite Festival music stage. 15 Split-screen games are great for family gaming Credit: Epic Games It helps to dispel the myth that Fortnite is 'The Devil' and really bad for children. It helps to calm any fears you might have had of what content they are being exposed to (see, Peely the giant yellow banana isn't that bad after all!). 15 Turn off interactive AI features if you don't want your child to interact with NPCs Credit: Epic Games TOP OF THE BOTS You can choose whether your child can interact with AI features in the game. This includes talking to non-playable characters (NPCs), like Darth Vader in the latest Battle Royale season. Gamers can have an interactive chat where the NPC responds. You can switch this off in the Parental Controls section - just find the 'Allow voice and written communication with AI Features' setting and turn it off. 15 Parental controls are simple to set up Credit: Epic Games GET SET UP You don't need to be a gaming god or YouTuber to set up these parental controls. Head to and sign in to your child's Epic Games account. Or simply access Parental Controls directly in Fortnite - just click on the account icon in the top right corner.
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
34 years later, MCU star Paul Rudd reprises the SNES role that got him into acting with an adorable Nintendo Switch 2 trailer
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. We all now know and love Paul Rudd, the MCU's good intentioned Ant-Man and a goofy heartthrob in plenty of other movies, but one of his first acting jobs that predates anything he did in TV or film was actually an ad for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System 34 years ago. And now, the beloved actor has reunited with the Mario publisher in a new commercial for the Nintendo Switch 2. Paul Rudd's original SNES ad is very '90s: high-pitched horror music introduces a boy in a black, overlong coat who enters a shadowy, foggy area to play the console on seemingly the biggest screen you can find outdoors. Silhouettes of other figures creep up from behind to watch him play F-Zero and Zelda, which isn't at all creepy. 'Now you're playing with power,' indeed. The newly-released Switch 2 ad, more than three decades later, opens in much the same way. Paul Rudd dons the same fit, but barely looks like he's aged a day, and that same eery music play as he slots the console into its dock with fog spewing into, this time, his house. The rest of it is far more wholesome and adorably corny, though, as Rudd just plays Mario kart World with some of his on-screen family. I also love how unafraid Nintendo is of showing off its extremely laggy screen-sharing Game Chat feature. Earlier this week, we learned that the Nintendo Switch 2's US pricing will be unaffected by the government's tariffs and pre-orders are set to go live on April 24, even though some accessories have seen a price increase to what was originally planned. Elsewhere, PEGI may have leaked a Switch 2 port of Assassin's Creed Shadows. Here's some more upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 games to keep an eye on.
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Business Standard
21-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Standard
Assassin's Creed Shadows reportedly coming to Nintendo Switch 2: Details
Assassin's Creed: Shadows, after having its success on Steam, is now reportedly coming to Nintendo Switch 2. According to a report by 9To5Toys, a recently spotted PEGI rating hints at an imminent launch. Several games are already lined up for the Switch 2, starting from its release on June 5 and continuing through the year. After Ubisoft's recent announcement of its new Star Wars game suggests that the next Assassin's Creed instalment may also be part of the Switch 2 line-up soon. Assassin's Creed Shadows on Nintendo Switch 2: What do we know? Before Nintendo officially revealed the Switch 2 in January and later hosted a Direct event in early April, there were already several reliable reports and rumours hinting that the new console would be powerful enough to support major games from the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Some of these reports also claimed that a number of those big titles would eventually be released on the Switch 2. While the original Switch did get a few high-profile third-party games, it now seems the Switch 2 could see even more major AAA ports from other platforms. Earlier rumours mentioned that games like Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, GTA VI, Call of Duty, Fallout 4, and Metaphor: ReFantazio might make their way to Nintendo's next-gen system. Though none of these titles have been officially confirmed for Switch 2 yet, many of the same sources had also hinted that Ubisoft would be among the early publishers to bring games to the platform. Last week, Ubisoft announced that Star Wars Outlaws will be released for the Switch 2 on September 4, 2025, ahead of Star Wars Day celebrations in May. More recently, a PEGI rating was spotted for Assassin's Creed: Shadows, listing it for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and, notably, Nintendo Switch 2, with an age rating of 18+. It seems that Assassin's Creed: Shadows launch on Switch 2 may follow that of Star Wars Outlaws.
