Sony has published clarifications on the new, and somewhat controversial, voice chat recording feature, posted on PlayStation 4 with software update 8. 00 and also available on the new PlayStation 5 when it arrives on the market.

Following the announcement, some users have expressed their concern believing that Sony would actively record and moderate conversations between private groups . In a new blog post published on Friday, Catherine Jensen , Sony’s vice president of Global Consumer Experience , admitted that the company “should have explained more clearly why this feature was implemented” .

Catherine Jensen confirms that Sony will not actively monitor and listen to private conversations when PlayStation5 hits the market over the next month. “The sole purpose of this feature is to help report inappropriate behavior, including actions that violate our code of conduct” , writes. “Please note that this feature will not actively monitor or listen to your conversations – under any circumstances – and is strictly limited to reporting abuse or harassment online “.

According to Sony, therefore, it is rather an innovative feature , which will serve to intercept inappropriate behaviors within the Sony community . The new feature, in fact, will record the last five minutes of any private voice chat. This way, if a user is harassed or anything happens that is believed to be in violation of Sony’s rules on player behavior, records will be sent up to 40 seconds to Sony’s moderation team for them to review what happened . The submitted registration will include a maximum of 20 seconds related to the violation of the code of conduct, and the 10 seconds immediately prior to i 10 immediately following the time of the violation.

“PlayStation 5 will send reports directly to our Consumer Experience moderation team. They will listen to the recordings and take action if they see fit” adds Jensen. “Our team will take this opportunity to provide assistance and instructions in cases that require it” .

There will be no option to disable the voice chat recording feature , because Sony intends to make sure all its users “feel safe when they play with others online, and that this does not affect only those who choose to enable the feature “.