We recently reported that a violent video game tax was once again proposed in the state of Pennsylvania by State Representative Chris Quinn (Republican). House Bill 109 targets games with Mature 17+ or Adults Only 18+ ratings from the ESRB, which contain sexual content, violence, strong language, gore, and real gambling. If passed, consumers purchasing these games in the state would pay an additional 10 percent tax. Although Representative Quinn has stated that violence in games are linked to violence in schools, a new Oxford study concludes that this is not the case.
We have seen studies come out on both sides of this long-winded debate, but this new report from the the Oxford Internet Institute and the University of Oxford, published in Royal Society Open Science, is one of the most definitive to date. Specifically, researchers looked into whether or not teenagers who spent time playing violent video games exhibited more aggression than teens who did not. Data was taken from a sample of British 14 and 15-year-olds, as well as their carers, totaling 2,008 subjects. The games played by the teens were officially rated as violent by the Pan European Game Information (PEGI – EU) and Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB – US).
In the end, the report concludes that “Despite interest in the topic by parents and policy-makers, the research has not demonstrated that there is cause for concern.” Professor Andrew Przybylski, Director of Research at the Oxford Internet Institute and lead researcher, does not rule out the idea that video games can affect players, however. He says “Anecdotally, you do see things such as trash-talking, competitiveness and trolling in gaming communities that could qualify as antisocial behaviour. This would be an interesting avenue for further research.”
So, will this new study officially shut down lawmakers, such as Quinn, who want to tax or censor video games? Most likely not, but there’s no doubt this is an effective counterpoint.
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