Agenda
The Hidden Cost of Toxicity: What 10 Million Safety Incidents on PlayStation Reveal About Player Spend, Conversation, and Social Play
Rachel Kowert (Visiting Researcher, University of Cambridge)
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Hot Topics:
International
Track:
Business Strategy, Culture & Sustainability
Audience Level:
Entry-Level
Format:
Lecture
Vault Recording: TBD
Audience Level: Entry-Level
For years, players have told us toxicity makes them pull back from their communities. This session presents a first-of-its-kind test of those claims, using platform data from more than 10 million safety incidents across thousands of PlayStation titles. The analysis reveals that players who block, mute, leave or report go on to quietly quit. Play time barely moves, but spend drops sharply and stays down for months, and voice chat declines with no sign of recovery. The session closes with evidence that proactive interventions, such as nudges, can reduce harm before it reaches players. Across more than 2 million nudges on the PlayStation App, players regularly revised or withdrew harmful messages, harmful message rates fell, and the effect held steady over five months. Attendees will leave able to spot quiet quitting in their metrics and make the internal case for proactive safety investment.
Takeaway
Attendees will leave with a method for auditing their own metrics for the average-versus-median gap that hides toxicity's true cost, platform-scale evidence that a single incident suppresses spending and social play for at least 90 days, and data showing that nudges delivered before a harmful message is sent reduce harmful messages and keep working over time. Together, these make a concrete, revenue-grounded case for shifting investment from reactive moderation toward proactive prevention.
Intended Audience
Studio and platform executives, product and live-ops leaders, trust and safety professionals, data and analytics teams, and anyone responsible for player engagement, retention, or monetization. No prerequisite knowledge is required.