Video Games and Violence

There have been many tragic mass shootings in recent years, which has led some people to blame violent video games. Video games are a huge industry where violent or M-rated games make up only a small potion of it. People of all ages play games with the majority being 18 or older. There are many studies that give insight into whether there is a link between video games and violence or not.

The Video Game Industry

Video games are a big industry that generates billions of dollars and employs thousands of people in the United States. According to Anderton (2017), video games contributed over $11 billion to U.S. GDP in 2016 and employed 65,678 people. It contributes to the U.S. economy because of these two facts. It is not only a major industry in the U.S., but it is throughout the world. Batchelor (2018) states, video games were responsible for $108.4 billion in total revenue worldwide in 2017. It is interesting to see how much money the gaming generates, but it does not tell how much of this is due to violent games.

The gaming industry has a rating system much like any other major entertainment product such as movies and television. It is determined by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). The rating system consists of E, E10, T, M, and AO. E stands for everyone, E10 stands for everyone ages 10 plus, T stands for teen, M stands for mature or age 17 plus, and AO stands for adults only or age 18 plus (esrb.org). This system is designed to show what age is appropriate for each game. This is to prevent children from playing M-rated and AO-rated games, which have various adult themes. According to the ESRB, only 13% of the 1,948 games that received ratings in 2017 had an M rating. M-rated games make up a small portion of the gaming industry so violent games are not as wide spread as many may believe.

The demographics for video games shows people who are 18 and over make up the majority of those playing games. There are people of all ages playing games with 29% under 18, 27% 18 to 35, 19% 36 to 49, and 26% 50 and older (statista.com). The total percentage for everyone playing video games who are 18 and older is 72%. This means most people playing games are not in the development stage of life, which is when violent games could potentially affect someone. People under 17 cannot purchase a M-rated game that may have violence unless an adult buys it and gives it to a child.

Video Games and Violence Studies

There are many studies that reveal whether playing games can lead people to commit violent crimes. Loria (2018) states, the American Psychological Association (APA) conducted a study that found playing violent video games can make it slightly more likely for people “to engage in aggressive behavior”. Another study did not find a link between violent games and violence or aggressive behaviors (Loria, 2018). The APA only links playing video games to a slight increase in aggressive behavior and not violent behavior, but the second study does not find the same link. This would suggest that the worst result of playing games could be a slight increase in aggression, which may not even be the case.

There is a 2015 study that showed aggravated assault and homicide rates go down months after the release of a major violent video games, which could be due to many factors (Loria, 2018). This study shows that not only is there no increase in violent crimes upon the release of a violent game but there is a decrease in those crimes. According to Loria (2018), there was a Boston University study showing a 29% decrease in the rate of youth violence from 2004 to 2014, although this may not be a correlation to video games (Loria, 2018). These two studies show playing games could give people an outlet for aggressive or violent behaviors, which may make it less likely for people to commit those kinds of crimes. The decrease in violent crimes may not be due to the increased availability of violent games. It is more likely that they have no effect on violent crimes.

There are people who may think mass shooters or more specifically school shooters play violent games, but that is not the case. There was a study that found 70% of nonviolent people play violent games (Loria, 2018). This shows that there are many people who enjoy violent video games and are not violent. Loria (2018) says, the U.S. Secret Service and the Department of Education conducted a report that found only 12% of school shooters are interested in violent video games. Two government agencies found that school shooters are rarely interested in violent games, which shows they commit violent crimes regardless of what they use for entertainment. Non-violent people enjoy violent games at a significantly higher percentage than school shooters.

Can Violent Video Games be Banned?

There are people or more specifically politicians who think violent games should be banned or restricted. This is even with studies showing no link between those kinds of games and violent crimes. This idea of restricting violent games has been tested and there is legal precedent that establishes that they cannot be restricted. The Supreme Court ruled 7 to 2 in 2011 that the state of “California could not ban the sale of violent video games to children” (Salam, Stack, 2018). The Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. and they said the government cannot restrict the access to violent games for even minors. Having access to violent video games is a protected right for any person according to the Supreme Court. It would be impossible to ban or restrict games to even adults if minors are allowed to have access to those kinds of games. There is still a ratings system, so stores can decide not to sell violent games to minors or parents can make sure their children are not playing games they deem inappropriate.

Final Thoughts

Video games are a big industry with millions of people who enjoy games as a form of entertainment. There is a rating system in place to make sure parents are aware of the content in a game, so children are not playing violent ones. There are many studies showing that games do not make people more violent or commit more violent crimes. The only connection associated to violent games are a slight increase in aggressive behavior and a decrease in crime rates, but both are debatable. The fact is violent games are most commonly enjoyed by nonviolent people and those games are not responsible for violent crimes.

References

Anderton, K. (2017, Apr. 29). The Business Of Video Games: A Multi Billion Dollar Industry [Infographic]. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinanderton/2017/04/29/the-business-of-video-games-a-multi-billion-dollar-industry-infographic/#4cba8ff96d27

Batchelor, J. (2018, Jan. 31). Games Industry Generated $108.4bn in Revenues in 2017. Retrieved from https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2018-01-31-games-industry-generated-usd108-4bn-in-revenues-in-2017

https://www.esrb.org/about/categories.aspx

http://www.esrb.org/ratings/

Loria, K. (2018, Mar. 10). How Playing Video Games Affect Your Body and Brain. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/video-games-and-violence-2018-3

https://www.statista.com/statistics/189582/age-of-us-video-game-players-since-2010/

Salam, M., Stack, L. (2018, Feb. 23). Do Video Games Lead to Mass Shooting? Researchers Say No. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/23/us/politics/trump-video-games-shootings.html