Trump’s focus on video game violence worries industry leaders
Local video game leaders say the industry has received unwarranted attention in the debate over gun violence, a spotlight made more apparent by President Donald Trump last week.
Ben Noel, an industry veteran who has worked on some of the most-notable titles, said targeting video games seeks to shift blame on a problem that he says likely includes a lack of mental-health resources.
“Where do you stop when you start to censor video game violence?” said Noel, who since 2005 has been executive director of University of Central Florida’s Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy. “We have violent and sexually explicit movies. They are typically rated R or at least PG 13. I don’t know why you’d do anything different for video games than movies.”
During a meeting with safety officials Feb. 22 at the White House, Trump said video games have helped foster a violent society that children learn from.
The White House has since announced that Trump would host a meeting with video game executives at 2 p.m. today.
The discussion on video game violence has been growing since accused gunman Nikolas Cruz, a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, allegedly entered the school on Feb. 14, killed 17 people and wounded 14 more.
Trump also laid some responsibility on the movie industry.
“I’m hearing more and more people say the level of violence on video games is really shaping young people’s thoughts,” Trump said during that meeting. “And then you go the further step, and that’s the movies.”
Kunal Patel, an Orlando video game leader who runs a gaming community known as Indienomicon, said that’s a baseless statement.
“I think video games are an easy scapegoat and one that comes from lazy politics,” he said, noting that a ratings system already exists. “It comes down to better parenting and controlling who buys and accesses content that is rated for grownups.”
Cruz’s attack has fueled a national conversation on access to guns. The self-regulated Entertainment Software Ratings Board, created in 1994 as a response to controversies related to violent and sexual imagery used in games, developed a ratings system meant to guide parents when they buy games.
The ratings range from “E,” which is for games deemed appropriate for everybody, to “AO,” or “Adults Only.”
Industry officials point out that past research refuted the belief that video game violence has connections to real-world attacks, citing studies that backed up their claim.
In a statement, the Entertainment Software Association, which includes Electronic Arts as a member, said they were concerned with the level of gun violence in the U.S.
However, “video games are plainly not the issue: entertainment is distributed and consumed globally, but the US has an exponentially higher level of gun violence than any other nation,” the statement read.
The meeting with Trump “will provide the opportunity to have a fact-based conversation about video game ratings, our industry’s commitment to parents, and the tools we provide to make informed entertainment choices.”
Noel said a discussion on violence in video games is welcome, but that it likely won’t lead to much.