Square Enix recently rolled out a new “group customer harassment policy,” clearly outlining its strategy for dealing with abusive customers. Introduced on January 10, the policy specifies how the company will address harassment, including potentially taking legal action against individuals who mistreat their employees.
The policy explicitly states that if Square Enix finds that someone has acted in a way that steps over the line of acceptable social behavior or causes harm, they might decide to cut off support services or stop providing their products altogether. In cases where actions are particularly severe or intentionally harmful, the company is prepared to protect their staff and partners by pursuing legal measures or criminal proceedings after seeking advice from law enforcement or legal advisors.
Within the policy, harmful behavior is put into two main categories: harassment and undue demands. Harassment covers things like violence, abusive language, intimidation, and discriminatory comments. On the other hand, undue demands refer to unrealistic requests for financial compensation or extreme expectations regarding employee punishment.
For anyone who’s spent time in the online gaming world, the need for such a policy won’t come as a shock. The behavior seen among some members of the gaming community toward developers can be troubling. For instance, Naoki Yoshida, the producer of Final Fantasy 14, recently had to urge players to stop sending transphobic messages to English voice actor Sena Bryer because of her role in the Dawntrail expansion.
Square Enix’s move is part of a broader initiative within Japanese society to curb the rising tide of customer harassment. According to The Japan Times, Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare released a report in December 2024 that, if implemented into law, would mandate companies to shield their employees from behavior by customers, partners, and others that goes beyond socially acceptable limits and negatively affects the workplace.
Other Japanese firms, including Sega, Level-5, and Rakuten, have put similar policies in place over the past year. Sega has even gone so far as to take legal action against someone who engaged in “slander and extreme acts of harassment” against one of its employees on social media. In July 2024, it was announced that the accused was ordered to pay an undisclosed amount in damages. A similar case happened in 2023 when a court in Washington awarded Bungie nearly $500,000 in damages from a Destiny 2 player who harassed a community manager. These legal successes could serve as significant precedents for future actions.
