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- Shares in video-game companies tumbled on Monday after Donald Trump blamed violent video games for two weekend shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio that left 29 people dead.
- "We must stop the glorification of violence in our society," the president said. "This includes the gruesome and grisly video games that are now commonplace."
- Shares in "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard and "Grand Theft Auto" developer Take-Two Interactive dropped 6%, outpacing the Nasdaq’s 1.8% decline.
- Other video-game stocks including Electronic Arts, GameStop, and Turtle Beach followed them lower.
- Watch Activision Blizzard, Take-Two Interactive, Electronic Arts, GameStop, and Turtle Beach trade live.
Shares in video-game studios, retailers, and makers of gaming accessories tumbled on Monday after Donald Trump blamed violent video games for two weekend shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio that left 29 people dead.
"We must stop the glorification of violence in our society," the president said during a national address on Monday, according to Bloomberg. "This includes the gruesome and grisly video games that are now commonplace."
Shares in the developers of shooting games were among the biggest fallers as traders anticipated stricter regulations on the games’ sale and a potential consumer backlash. "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard dropped 6%, "Grand Theft Auto" studio Take-Two Interactive slumped 6%, and "Battlefield" creator Electronic Arts slid 4%, outpacing the Nasdaq’s 1.8% decline.
Shares in other developers such as Zynga, console-makers Nintendo and Sony, and video-game retailer GameStop fell as much as 5% on fears of weaker demand. It was a similar story with makers of gaming accessories such as keyboards and headsets: Turtle Beach, Logitech, and Razer all slumped.
Trump’s comments came after both Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy pointed to violent video games as a factor in the mass shootings.
"How long are we going to ignore, particularly at the federal level, doing something about the video game industry?" Patrick asked on Fox & Friends on Sunday. "In this manifesto that we believe is from the shooter, in this manifesto he talks about living out his ‘super soldier fantasy on Call of Duty.’"
"We’ve always had guns and we’ve always had evil, but what’s changed when we see this rash of shootings?" he continued. "I see a video-game industry that teaches young people to kill."
Similarly, McCarthy said games that involve "shooting individuals" can "dehumanize" players. However, researchers are yet to find any conclusive link between playing video games and committing violent crimes. An estimated 2.3 billion people around the world actively play games, making it hard to argue they’re to blame for the epidemic of mass shootings in America.
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Source: Business Insider – tmohamed@businessinsider.com (Theron Mohamed)