Xbox Introduces Eight-Strike Suspension System

Microsoft is aiming for increased transparency in its enforcement of Xbox community standards by implementing an eight-strike suspension policy, effective immediately. Every enforcement action will now involve strikes, with the Xbox Safety team determining the number of strikes based on the seriousness of the violation. Each strike will lead to a suspension from Xbox’s social features.

Account suspensions are scaled according to the number of warnings. After two strikes, the player is suspended for a day. When a player hits four strikes, Xbox freezes their account for a week. Hit the full eight punches and the player will be banned from multiplayer, messaging, parties, party chat and other Xbox social features for a year. During the freeze, the player can still log in, play games that don’t require Xbox online services, use some apps, and make purchases.

Xbox asks players to report any violation of Community Standards that they see or hear someone else doing. The security team evaluates the notifications to determine if a breach has actually occurred. If so, they will decide how many warnings to include in the enforcement action.

Strikes remain on players’ accounts for six months. When warnings expire, they do not count towards a player’s total. However, if the security team deems the violation of community standards to be particularly serious or egregious, they may issue a permanent ban to the account, regardless of the number of warnings given to the account.

Players can view their enforcement history, where they can see how many warnings they have and when the suspension will end. They can also appeal valid enforcement actions. Xbox also shares information about strikes and enforcement actions in its biannual Transparency Report.

No warnings will be issued for sanctions applied to the account before today. However, players must complete all current suspensions before gaining full access to Xbox services.

Microsoft points out that in 2022, it handed out temporary bans to less than 1% of all players, and only a third of them had to endure a second ban. However, this is the latest effort by the company to make the Xbox community safe and welcoming for everyone. Recently, it started rolling out an Xbox feature that allows users to capture and report offensive or inappropriate audio chat.