Short answer. For voice chat, Modulate's ToxMod is the specialist most studios test first, with published tiers from $5,000 a month. For text chat, usernames and player reports, GGWP is built for games and has a free tier for small titles. For AAA programs that also need player support in many languages, Keywords Studios has the scale. For an indie or mid size studio that needs trained people applying its own code of conduct, on its peak hours, at a price known before the first call, a managed team like ours is the better fit.
Why gaming moderation is three different purchases
A studio rarely buys "content moderation" as one thing. It buys a filter, a review queue and an enforcement process, and the vendors line up differently on each.
- Real time filtering. Text chat, usernames, clan names and voice, checked in milliseconds so the slur never reaches the other player. This is software.
- Report review. A player reports someone for cheating, griefing, hate speech or something worse. A person has to look at the match, the chat log and the account history and decide. This is human work, and it is where most backlogs live.
- Enforcement and appeals. Timeouts, suspensions and bans, then the appeals that arrive through support tickets and on Discord. Consistency matters here more than speed, because a wrong ban on a paying player turns into a refund and a public thread.
A useful way to read any vendor's pitch is to ask which of these three it actually does with its own people, and which it leaves to yours.
Content moderation companies for gaming compared
Details come from each company's public pages, checked in October 2026. Where a vendor does not publish pricing, the table says so.
| Vendor | Type | Gaming strength | Who reviews reports | Published pricing | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Modulate (ToxMod) | voice AI | proactive voice chat detection, triage for your team | your team | Starter $0 with 1,500 hours once; Epic $5,000 a month for 50,000 hours; Mythic $20,000 for 200,000 hours | multiplayer games with open voice chat |
| GGWP | game moderation platform | chat, usernames, player reports, reputation scoring | your team, with managed reviewers offered for spikes and off hours | free tier announced up to about 5,000 MAU, then usage based | live service games automating report triage |
| CleanSpeak | filter and moderation software | multi language profanity filtering for chat and usernames | your team | not published, demo first | studios that want a self hosted filter |
| Hive | AI API | text, image, video and audio classification | your team | pay as you go from $0.50 per 1,000 text items and $3 per 1,000 images | engineering teams that build their own tools |
| Keywords Studios | games services outsourcer | player support, community management, trust and safety | Keywords teams | not published | AAA publishers with large multi language programs |
| Besedo | AI plus people | chat filtering and hybrid review, gaming among its industries | Besedo, your team or both | not published, demo first | large communities in many languages |
| Moderators | AI pre filter, dedicated moderators on your code of conduct, QA, software | chat, usernames, player reports, Discord, appeals | our team, yours or both | software $199, $599 or $1,499 a month; managed team as a monthly retainer | indie to mid size studios that need two to twenty moderators and a price first |
Voice moderation specialists
Modulate is the name that comes up first for voice. ToxMod listens to voice chat, flags harassment, hate speech and other harms with context, and sends a prioritized queue to the studio's own moderators. The pricing page is unusually open for this market: a Starter tier with no monthly minimum and 1,500 one time hours, then Epic at $5,000 a month with 50,000 voice hours, Legendary at $10,000 with 100,000 hours and Mythic at $20,000 with 200,000 hours, with extra hours from 10 to 12 cents.
What ToxMod does not do is decide. Its output is a queue, and somebody on your side still listens to the clip, checks the player's history and applies your code of conduct. Studios that turn voice moderation on without staffing that queue end up with a well sorted backlog. If you go this route, budget the reviewers at the same time as the license.
Chat, username and player report tools
GGWP was built for games: it scores chat, flags usernames, groups player reports into incidents and builds a reputation score for each player so repeat offenders stand out. In 2023 it announced a free tier for games up to roughly 5,000 monthly active users, then pay as you go pricing, and its publisher page now mentions managed moderation with trained reviewers for spikes and off hours. Check the current limits with GGWP before you plan around them.
CleanSpeak is a long running profanity filter and moderation tool with strong multi language filtering and an on premises option, sold through demos. Hive is a general AI API that many studios use for user generated images and video, such as custom sprays, avatars and clips. All three are good at the first job, real time filtering. The report queue stays with you. Our Hive moderation alternatives guide covers who staffs that queue when you have no team for it.
Game services outsourcers
Keywords Studios sells player support, community management and trust and safety to AAA and indie studios as part of a much wider games services business, with more than 12,000 people across 70 plus studios in 26 countries. If you are a publisher launching in a dozen languages with VIP support for paying players, that breadth is the point. Large general outsourcers such as TaskUs and Teleperformance also run gaming programs. Expect scoping, seat minimums and multi month terms; our TaskUs alternatives comparison covers that group.
Besedo lists gaming among its industries, with chat filtering in milliseconds and human review for edge cases. It is strongest on marketplaces and large communities; if you are weighing it, see our Besedo alternative page for the trade offs.
Managed moderation teams sized for studios
Our model covers the two jobs the tools leave open. An AI pre filter handles chat and usernames at volume. Dedicated moderators, trained on your code of conduct and your own past decisions, work the player report queue with the match context, chat log and account history on one screen. They handle timeouts and bans on your Discord as well as in game, take appeals through your support desk, and escalate threats, self harm and suspected grooming to your on call contact by name. A QA lead samples decisions every week.
Studios usually ask for coverage shaped around the game rather than the clock: heavier on evenings and weekends, extra people on patch days, launches and tournaments. The plan builder at the top of this page turns your daily messages, reports and peak hours into moderators per shift and a monthly estimate. The full scope is on our gaming moderation services page, and Discord specific coverage on Discord moderation services.
If you keep moderation in house instead, the hard part is training. New moderators need your code of conduct, examples of past calls and a short test before they ban anyone, and that has to be repeated every time the rules change. Some studios run that onboarding through a learning management system for staff training so every moderator signs off on the same version of the policy.
How to choose a gaming moderation vendor
- Split the volume by surface. Text messages, voice hours, usernames, user generated images and player reports per day. Each vendor prices a different unit, so a single "MAU" number will mislead you.
- Ask who reviews reports. If the answer is "your team, in our dashboard", you are buying software. Plan the headcount separately.
- Test on your own logs. Send 500 real chat lines and 50 real reports, with your decisions removed. Compare the vendor's calls with yours, especially on competitive banter your community accepts.
- Plan for spikes. A content update or a streamer raid can triple reports overnight. Get the surge plan and its cost in writing.
- Agree on the weekly report. Reports received and actioned, time to action by severity, ban appeal overturn rate and QA score. The content moderation team sizing guide shows how to turn those numbers into headcount.
Questions studios ask before choosing
What is the best content moderation company for games?
It depends on the surface. For voice chat, Modulate's ToxMod is the specialist most studios test first. For text chat, usernames and player reports with automation, GGWP is built for games. For large AAA programs with player support in many languages, Keywords Studios has the headcount. For a studio that needs trained people on its own code of conduct at a known monthly price, a managed team such as ours fits best.
How much does game moderation cost?
Software ranges from free tiers for small games to thousands of dollars a month: ToxMod lists Epic at $5,000 a month for 50,000 voice hours and Mythic at $20,000 for 200,000 hours. Human review is priced per moderator hour or as a monthly retainer. The content moderation outsourcing cost guide has worked examples.
Do games need human moderators or is AI enough?
AI is enough to filter slurs, spam and obvious threats in chat. Player reports, ban appeals, grooming signals, cheating accusations and competitive trash talk need a person who knows the game and its code of conduct. Most studios use AI for volume and people for the decisions that lead to a ban.
Can we outsource Discord moderation for our game?
Yes. Many studios outsource Discord moderation together with in game chat and player reports so one team applies the same rules everywhere. Ask the vendor to cover your peak hours, patch days and events, and to log every timeout and ban with a reason.
Price a game moderation team before the vendor calls
Fill in the plan builder with your real daily chat volume, reports and peak hours, and keep the estimate next to every quote you collect. For the wider field beyond games, see our comparison of content moderation companies and agencies.