Square Enix and Peer Gaming Companies Adopt Customer Harassment Policy

In January 2025, Square Enix, the video game publisher behind famous role-playing game franchises such as Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, released its new customer policy addressing customer harassment against its employees, staff, and partners. This alert examines the background and the content of this customer policy, compares Square Enix’s policy with similar initiatives across the electronic gaming industry, and analyzes the reactions of the consumers and implications to Square Enix and other companies in the industry.

Background: Why Square Enix Introduced the Policy

Over the past few years, the gaming industry has experienced a marked increase in incidents of customer harassment directed at developers, voice actors, and other partners and professionals in the industry. These professionals have often become targets for fan outrage over creative decisions in game production. The increase in threats, defamation, and abusive messages against these professionals has prompted gaming companies to take more proactive and serious measures. Square Enix is among the latest companies to adopt a formal customer policy addressing this issue.

Square Enix’s Group Customer Harassment Policy

In the beginning of this year, Square Enix released its "Group Customer Harassment Policy,”¹ which aims to clarify the company’s expectations for acceptable consumer conduct and its approach to protecting employees from abusive interactions.

According to the policy, the company may refuse service or support to individuals whose conduct “exceeds socially acceptable behavior or is harmful.” In cases where actions are egregious or appear to be carried out with malicious intent, Square Enix reserves the right to pursue legal action or criminal proceedings.

The policy enumerates two primary categories of prohibited conduct:

• harassment, which includes physical threats, intimidation, defamation, hate speech, persistent or excessive contact, stalking, sexual harassment, and privacy violations such as unauthorized recording of staff or trespassing at company premises; and
• undue demands, which include demands for unreasonable monetary compensation, excessive requests beyond the scope of normal services expectations, and excessive demands for disciplinary measures without valid grounds.

While the original Japanese policy is based on Japanese law, the company emphasizes that these guidelines are global in scope and will be applied in accordance with local laws and regulations.

Peer Companies Increasingly Adopt Policies to Combat Customer Harassment

Square Enix is not alone in implementing measures to address consumer harassment. More companies have become aware of the need for adopting some framework to protect their employees, and some have already taken legal actions and have obtained favorable judgment:

• Sega: Sega has published a comparable policy² prohibiting abusive conduct towards its employees and defining grounds for the company to deny services and take legal action. In 2024, Sega pursued legal action against an individual for "slander and extreme acts of harassment" of an employee via social media, obtaining a settlement that included damages and removal of the offensive content.
• Ubisoft: Ubisoft maintains internal player code of conduct³ governing player behavior and account enforcement across its gaming platforms. More recently, Ubisoft has implemented internal guidance to shield employees from potential harassment linked to their professional responsibilities, advising employees to refrain from disclosing details about their work on social media platforms. No formal policy has been released.

These initiatives reflect a growing consensus within the industry to put protecting employees and staff and others from abusive consumer conduct as a workplace safety priority and a reputational imperative.

Consumer Reaction and Company Implications

Consumer response to Square Enix’s policy has been mixed. Many commentators and players supported the move and acknowledged the importance of protecting employees from abusive behaviors. They noted that the types of conduct outlined in the policy, such as threats, stalking, or hate speech, fall outside the bounds of lawful or socially acceptable behaviors. Supporters view the policy as a step toward a healthier interaction between companies and the fan communities, where feedback will continue to be encouraged while hostile behaviors will not be tolerated.

In the meantime, some other consumers have raised concerns regarding the potential breadth of the policy’s language. They fear that this policy could be misused to suppress legitimate criticism. Terms such as “denial of personality” or “excessive reprimand” have been flagged as subjective and potentially vague that might be subject to the company’s abuse. Critics believed that unclear enforcement of the policy could result in perceived censorship or the alienation of fan communities.

For companies considering the implementation of these policies, they should consider the balance of brand reputation, community engagement, and the protection and well-being of employees and other service providers. If managed transparently and consistently, these policies could strengthen employee and consumer trust in the company while building goodwill and fostering a more respectful and engaged player community.

Conclusion

These developments reflect broader trends in corporate governance and digital platform regulation in the gaming industry. We are observing this evolving trend as more companies adopt similar policies.

For more information on this matter or about gaming companies generally, please contact Christopher A. Paniewski or another member of the Electronic Gaming practice. Learn more about Wilson Sonsini’s Electronic Gaming practice by reading The Scramble, an annual publication that offers a retrospective look on the gaming industry.

 Vicky Zhou and Christopher A. Paniewski contributed to the preparation of this alert.

[1] Square Enix Group Customer Harassment Policy: https://www.hd.square-enix.com/eng/company/customer_harassment_policy.html.

[2] Sega Customer Harassment Policy: https://www.sega.co.jp/en/customer_harassment_policy/index.html.

[3] Ubisoft Player Code of Conduct: https://www.ubisoft.com/en-us/company/about-us/codes-of-conduct/articles/code-of-conduct-the-way-we-play#:~:text=Ubisoft%20does%20not%20tolerate%20threats,suspicious%20activity%20that%20you%20see.