Sony clears the air about recording feature in PS5 voice chats

After a controversy popped up over the new PlayStation voice chat recording, Sony put out a clarification stating that the sole purpose of the feature is to report inappropriate behaviour violating the Community Code of Conduct.

According to The Verge, some users were led to believe the company would be actively recording and moderating conversations among private groups.

In a recent blog post, Catherine Jensen, Sony's vice president of global consumer experience, admitted the company "should have more clearly explained why this function was being rolled out."

Jensen now confirmed Sony will not be actively listening in on voice chats whatsoever when the feature launches with the PS5 next month, as per The Verge.

"Its sole purpose is to help in reporting of inappropriate behavior, including actions that violate our Community Code of Conduct," she wrote. "Please note that this feature will not actively monitor or listen in on your conversations - ever - and it's strictly reserved for reporting online abuse or harassment."

However, the company had said that the feature will record the past five minutes of any private voice chat on a rolling basis. This may help any user, who encounters harassment or anything they feel violates Sony's rules around player behavior, by submitting up to a 40-second clip for the company's moderation team to review. That will include 20 seconds of the potentially offending behavior as selected by the user, with 10 seconds before and 10 seconds after the selected segment for added context.

"These reports can be submitted directly through the PS5 console, and will be sent to our Consumer Experience team for moderation, who will then listen to the recording and take action, if needed. Some submitted reports won't be valid, and our team will take this as an opportunity to provide guidance and education," Jensen explained.

She further said that there will not be the option to opt-out of voice chat recording, because Sony wants "all users to feel safe when playing with others online, not just those who choose to enable it."

( With inputs from ANI )