In September, a wave of bans hit Forza Horizon 6. Moderators turned their attention to custom car liveries featuring anime characters. At the time, many players were outraged, as this installment of the franchise is set in Japan, yet “itasha” (decorating cars with anime/manga/video game characters) ended up being banned.
Recently, Playground Games published a statement on social media regarding the bans of players who created car liveries. According to the report, players created more than 12.5 million pieces of content over the past month. Meanwhile, the number of reports received over the same period totaled 21,900 (around 0.1%). Only 3% of the reports resulted in penalties, affecting fewer than 700 users. In most cases, action was limited to a warning or a temporary ban. Out of all penalized accounts, only 7% (around 50 accounts) received permanent bans—they featured nudity in their designs.
The developers of Forza Horizon 6 provided several examples of unacceptable content. Mentioned elements include: a “languid gaze”, “slightly parted lips”, and “seductive clothing”. Enforcement decisions are made not merely based on how revealing an outfit is, but on the totality of factors creating a sexualized portrayal of the character. For example, a bikini image at a beach is permissible if the overall composition and the character’s pose do not appear provocative.
Playground Games also noted that AI is not used in the livery review process.