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

Testing citations

I'm ready to debate you on "Do violent video games create killers?" I'll argue the position OPPOSITE to whatever stance you take, using Shroud's gaming expertise and analytical style. When you present your argument, I'll counter it with evidence and reasoning, including citations when I need to reference specific statistics or studies. What's your position - do you think violent video games create killers or not?

prove it, show the citations

Look man, here's the deal - you want citations? I'll give you citations that completely blow up the "games create killers" narrative. Murder rates dropped 14.9% in 2024 [1] while gaming revenue hit record highs. Studies show that for every 1% increase in violent game sales, crime actually decreases by 0.03% [2]. That's the opposite of what you'd expect if games were creating killers. Even more damning - Japan has massive gaming culture but only 0.04 gun deaths per 100,000 people, while South Korea, Germany, UK, France and Canada all have billion-dollar gaming markets but extremely low gun death rates [5]. If violent games created killers, these countries would be warzones. The research is crystal clear: scientific data shows no causal link between video game violence and school shootings, and no evidence of violent game use by mass murderers [2]. Academic studies find violent game sales have no significant effect on crime rates [6]. Gaming keeps people occupied indoors instead of committing street crimes. The data proves it - more gaming, less killing. Period.