U.S. President Donald Trump, in response to the recent school shooting in Parkland, Florida, hosted a meeting to discuss violent video games and its effects on the youth.
As the meeting ended, it remains unclear what the Trump administration will do regarding violence in video games moving forward.
The Attendees Of Trump's Video Game Violence Meeting
Earlier this week, President Trump invited industry representatives to a meeting to discuss violence in video games, which he sees as a possible explanation for the extreme behavior that results in school shootings.
Two of the top executives from the biggest video game developers in the United States attended the meeting, namely Zenimax CEO Robert Altman and Take-Two Interactive Strauss Zelnick. Zenimax owns the studios behind the Fallout series and Doom, while Take-Two owns the studio behind the Grand Theft Auto franchise.
There were only four industry members in the meeting though, including Altman and Zelnick. They were joined by several outspoken critics of violence in video games.
What Happened At The Violent Video Games Meeting?
The purpose of the meeting was for the discussion of video game violence and its possible correlation to aggression and desensitization among children. It was the first of many meetings with industry representatives, the White House said.
Trump opened the meeting with a montage of clips showing violence in video games. The video, uploaded to YouTube by the official The White House account, included scenes from Wolfenstein: The New Order, the Call of Duty series, The Evil Within, Sniper Elite 4, and Dead by Daylight, among others. The clips showed people being stabbed, shot, and decapitated, with one scene even impaling a character on a meat hook.
"This is violent isn't it?" Trump then reportedly asked the attendees of the meeting after the video ended.
Over the course of the meeting, the representatives of the video game industry held their ground. In a statement, the Entertainment Software Association said that the meeting brought up the various scientific studies that proved no connection between violence and video games. Also discussed were the topics of First Amendment protection for video game content and the ESRB rating system to help parents make informed choices on what titles to buy for their children.
There is no clear indication on how Trump and his administration will proceed with tackling the issue, but even the harshest critics did not believe in restrictions on video game content. Meanwhile, the Trump administration will be moving forward with the proposal to arm teachers for the protection of schools, instead of implementing gun control measures.
