On January 10, Square Enix announced a “group customer harassment policy,” unveiling its strategy to combat abusive customers, with options that even include pursuing legal actions against individuals targeting its staff.
According to the new policy, if Square Enix finds someone has acted against an employee or partner in a way that’s socially unacceptable or harmful, they might stop providing services or products to that individual. In severe or malicious cases, the company is prepared to protect its staff by potentially involving police and legal proceedings.
The policy categorizes harmful actions into harassment and unreasonable demands. Harassment covers violence, abusive and intimidating language, and discriminatory remarks, while undue demands focus on unreasonable compensation requests and excessive penalties aimed at employees.
For those familiar with online gaming communities, this move isn’t surprising. We’ve seen interactions where gamers cross lines, a recent example being the transphobic comments directed at English voice actor Sena Bryer over her work in the Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail expansion, prompting producer Naoki Yoshida to call for civility.
Square Enix’s stance reflects a broader societal effort in Japan against customer harassment. Reported by The Japan Times, a December 2024 study from the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare proposes legal measures to ensure companies protect employees from harmful customer behaviors.
Several Japanese firms, including Sega, Level-5, and Rakuten, have adopted similar policies in the past year. Notably, Sega took legal action against an individual for online slander and harassment, which led to a court ordering damages in July 2024. Similarly, in 2023, a Washington court awarded Bungie nearly $500,000 in a harassment case involving a Destiny 2 player. Such rulings may pave the way for future actions against similar misconduct.
