Epic Games has introduced a new feature in its Battle Royale game Fortnite called Voice Reporting. The new feature allows players to submit audio evidence when reporting suspected violations of the game’s Community Rules. This will help the developers take action against players using voice chat to bully, harass, discriminate, or engage in other inappropriate behaviour.
How does Voice Reporting work?
Voice reporting captures the most recent five minutes of voice chat continuously. Only the last five minutes are available for reporting, and as new audio is recorded, any previous audio beyond this timeframe is automatically removed. The voice chat audio is securely stored on your device (e.g., gaming console or PC) and not on the Epic Games servers.
When reporting a conversation, the voice chat audio from the recent five minutes will be uploaded along with the report for review by Epic moderators. You can check the status of voice reporting in the Sidebar. It’s important to note that Epic cannot access any voice chat audio unless voice reporting is activated and a participant submits a voice report.
Audio clips sent to Epic for review will be automatically deleted after fourteen days or the duration of a sanction, whichever is longer. If there’s an appeal, retention may be extended for up to fourteen days to review the sanction decision thoroughly. If legal obligations require it, Epic will retain an audio clip for the duration mandated by law.
Read More: PS Plus Extra, Premium subscribers to get 14 new games this month
How to enable or disable Voice Reporting in Fortnite?
Voice reporting remains active during voice chats involving individuals under 18. If you’re under 18 and prefer not to have your voice chat audio recorded, you can either mute yourself or disable voice chat entirely by choosing the “Off” option in your voice chat settings.
If you are 18 or above, in the main Fortnite settings under “Audio,” you have the flexibility to customise your voice reporting preferences by choosing between “Always On” or “Off When Possible.”
Opting for “Always On” activates voice reporting in every channel you participate in. Alternatively, selecting “Off When Possible” turns off voice reporting in parties formed among friends, provided all players have voice reporting set to “Off When Possible.” Voice reporting will be active if Party Channels include players with “Always On” or individuals added through Looking for Party.
It’s important to note that the “Off When Possible” option specifically applies to Party Channels, while voice reporting remains consistent in Game Channels, connecting players on the same team but in different parties.
Then, Epic Games further says that reports are kept anonymous from other players, meaning a player cannot see who reported them. You will only know you’ve been reported if the developers have taken enforcement action in response to the report.
Lastly, Voice reporting only works with Fortnite in-game voice chat and not other services such as Discord.
What happens if you are reported?
Upon taking action based on a received report, Epic Games will dispatch an email to the address linked with your Epic account. This email will outline the Community Rules violation(s) that LED to the action. Additionally, it will provide a link to a designated site where you can examine your case. If you think there’s an error and wish to appeal for certain violations, you can initiate the appeal process through the platform.