One of the most amazing things about working at Xbox Live is getting to see how fiercely loyal you – our members – are. We find that overwhelming majority of Xbox Live members are devoted to keeping Xbox Live a fair and fun place to play your games and experience entertainment. However, it’s no secret that we sometimes come across members who don’t necessarily play by the rules and can ruin the fun for everyone else. Last month at E3 we shared some of the exciting enhancements like Smart Match and Reputation that our teams at Xbox have been working on to help improve the community experience on Xbox Live.

Today, we are excited to announce the beta of an exciting new community feature tentatively called Xbox Enforcement United. Members like you will be able to get involved to help ensure that Xbox Live remains a fun, fair and safer place for everyone.

For those unfamiliar with our Xbox Live Policy and Enforcement Team, we are a dedicated team of agents who work closely with you, the community, to identify and resolve issues that negatively impact your experience on Xbox Live. We process every complaint we receive – thousands a day – and many of them require relatively simple judgment calls like whether a Gamertag or profile content abides by the Xbox Live Code of Conduct. That’s where the Enforcement United beta program comes in. We love that our community is smart and engaged, and we want to harness that talent to give you a sense of ownership on the service.

Members who join the Enforcement United beta will participate by providing their opinions on whether particular content, initially Gamertags, violate the Xbox Live Code of Conduct. These decisions from participants feed into an algorithm our team developed. That algorithm takes several factors into account like how many participants believe there had been a violation and how reliably those individual members’ historical decisions aligned with the general consensus. The system can then determine whether or not to apply an enforcement action like requiring a Gamertag change, or if the complaint should be escalated for one of our enforcers to review more closely.

We have built in a series of carefully designed controls so no individual participant can wield unchecked power over another. The system will also continually calibrate itself to understand how reliable the data is and the sources it comes from.

Why involve the community in these decisions? We’ve heard your feedback that you want ways to positively shape your Xbox Live experience and we feel this is a great way for you to get involved. Also launching today is Xbox Community Level, a new site where Xbox Live members can earn rewards and recognition for contributing to the Xbox Live community through programs like the Enforcement United beta and the long-standing Xbox Live Ambassadors. The program will also allow our team of enforcers to devote more time not only to complaints that require more experience and knowledge, but also time to invest in future enhancements that will continue to improve Xbox Live.

Current Xbox Live Ambassadors who meet qualifying criteria can register now to get involved in the Enforcement United beta. We plan to make the program available to broader Xbox Live members when it officially launches in the coming months.

We look forward to your continued feedback about how we’re helping make the Xbox Live community the best place to enjoy your games and entertainment with others and hope you’ll join us by getting involved.