Focus Entertainment, formally Focus Home Entertainment, has filed official legal complaints against players engaging in harassment of its employees.
The French games publisher, which published Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 among many others, revealed that there has been a sharp increase in harassment towards its employees in recent months.
In a statement, the company urged fans to follow “the rules of conduct of this community” following a sharp rise in threats towards staff. “We expect you to contribute to an environment where everyone feels welcome, respected, and included, be it fellow community members, moderators, dev teams, or Focus staff,” the company said online.
“Focus staff have sadly seen their share of toxic messages over the past years, but a recent escalation has led Focus Entertainment to file formal legal complaints against players directly threatening team members,” the statement continued.
In a further response to social media users claiming the company was attempting to “censor or control speech”, Focus Entertainment detailed the types of abuse that employees were receiving. “Racism, sexism, death threats, harassment of any kind: are NOT free speech,” the company said. “We will never tolerate any of this”.
Focus explained that “feedback and constructive criticism are always welcome”, however, the rise in hate speech towards staff has increased. “The limit stops at threats directed at employees,” the studio told followers.
Since the company’s statement, Focus Entertainment has been continually attacked on social media by groups claiming its legal complaints are anti-free speech. These complaints come, largely, from American followers who argue that the hate speech is legal in America. “We’re French,” the company responded to one user. “In France, it’s illegal,” the studio replied to another.
In other news, Focus Entertainment also celebrated two years of support for the aforementioned Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2. The publisher thanked fans for their continued support of the ongoing third-person shooter, hyping up the game’s second anniversary update. “See you on October 1st for the Anniversary Update 2,” the Space Marine 2 publisher told fans.
Focus Entertainment is also set to be the publisher for the in-development Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 3. Currently in-development, and likely still years away, the sequel is said to be bigger and better than Space Marine 2 with larger hordes and more complex enemy AI.
