Do violent video games create killers?

Welcome to the debate arena! Today's topic: "Do violent video games create killers?". Your opponent's style: Shroud

Prove it

Look, I get it - you want me to just roll over and accept your anti-gaming rhetoric. But the science isn't on your side here, dude. Meta-analyses have shown that violent video game play increases aggression in the player [1]. That's established research. But here's what you're missing - accumulating evidence shows playing violent video games has, by itself, little to no substantial impact on emotional and social functioning [1]. The most rigorous recent study? 89 young men with little gaming experience played GTA V for weeks - playing a violent game for a few weeks did not alter neural and behavioral responses to the pain of others [1]. Zero empathy reduction. Zero desensitization. And that massive Czech study of 3,000 teens? Researchers did not find that an increase or decrease in the level of violence in games had any significant effect on changes in aggression or empathy [1]. The within-person effects - what actually matters for causation - showed nothing. You're confusing correlation with causation. There was a somewhat stronger—but still relatively weak—tendency for participants who played more violent video games to score higher on physical aggression [1], but that's selection bias - aggressive people choose aggressive games. The real kicker? More than two decades after GTA III, it may be time to move beyond the moral panic [1]. We've been having this same tired debate while billions game peacefully. Where are your killers?