Destiny 2 has just released on Steam along with Shadowkeep Expansion, having a decent player base during its first hours. With great games though comes great responsibility and this one didn’t fall behind. Fans are currently raging over the Destiny 2 name censoring policy that Steam integrates into the game, making their names practically disappear.
A few hours ago, a post emerged on Bungie’s forums, where a player insisted that his name has been replaced with asterisks due to profanity. The player, named KinkyBlood is now *****Blood. This is an issue that many players are facing after the platform change. Bungie didn’t really collaborate on the issue, asking players to contact Steam Support in order to find a solution. Whether or not Steam will actually address this matter is a mystery.
This isn’t the first time that this issue occurs though. Last year, Rocket League fans pointed out that their names have been censored for no particular reason. Words like “Steve” and “Bill” fall under this category while profane words are in use normally. Even putting “Steam” on your name results in censorship. However, the issue subsided within its first weeks.
The Destiny 2 name censoring policy might be an issue right now but it’s not obsolete. In the days to come, Steam will most likely remove the censorship from the players’ names. However, it’s a drawback seeing such policies ruin players’ experience. What’s important though is that players report having the same names at different games on Steam without issues for years. Right now, words like “Gore”, “Darky”, “Braw” and others are getting censored in what seems like a crusade to make fans rage.
In fact, there’s a reason why the Destiny 2 name censoring policy is so strict. After the move from Blizzard’s Battle.net and while the game is going free-to-play with a rating of T (13+). This means that their censoring policies must get strict and definite for any kids that might be playing. This looks like a serious reason to do so, however, the words that are getting the censorship are nowhere near profane.
So what can you do for now if your name falls under the Destiny 2 name censoring policy? The only thing you can do is contact Steam Support and try to get some answers there. At least that’s what Bungie forum moderators would tell you to do. Unfortunately, if you navigate through the Steam support page you’ll find out that requesting support will lead you back to Bungie support. For the time being, we’re in a match of ping-pong on who’s to blame here. However, we expect Steam to solve this issue within the first days after launch.
Destiny 2’s launch on Steam isn’t without issues. Even with an average player count (currently at roughly 135.000 players), the Steam discussion page is full of bug reports, log-in issues, and whatnot. If you need help with the game’s known issues on Steam you can check out our guide on how to fix them here.
