Following the devastating shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas Highschool in Parkland, FL. that left 17 dead and 15 injured, elected officials have been debating the causes of mass shootings. United States President Donald Trump has suggested that violent video games are "shaping young people's thoughts" and could be to blame for the country's mass shootings.

After Trump's comments came under scrutiny by gamers and games industry figures alike, the White House announced that the President would be meeting with games industry executives next week to talk about the issues. Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders also confirmed plans for the meeting during a White House press briefing.

However, it now seems that this meeting may not be happening after all. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has now responded to reports about the Trump meeting with media relations boss Dan Hewitt saying, "The ESA and our member companies have not received an invitation to meet with President Trump." GamesBeat contacted several major games publishers about the matter and they were unable to comment.

The ESA counts many major gaming companies among its members, including Activision Blizzard, Bethesda Softworks, Epic Games, Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Ubisoft, and Take-Two Interactive (Rockstar Games' parent company). These companies are responsible for a huge amount of gaming revenue and produce most of the major gaming releases in the United States. As such, many are wondering if Donald Trump's meeting with games industry executives is taking place at all and just how effective such talks can be if the meeting is taking place but will not include ESA members.

On the one hand, those who dismiss suggestions about video games encouraging violent behavior may be happy with this revelation. If the meeting isn't going ahead then it could mean that President Trump does not plan to actively look into legislation against violent video games even as his administration remains engaged in the issue. But on the other hand, if Trump doesn't meet with games industry executives, he could still forge ahead with plans to legislate against such games only he may be doing so without being properly informed and having considered the games industry's side of the story.

Whether a meeting happens or not, the ESA is expected to fight back hard against the video-games-cause-violence rhetoric voiced by President Trump and other officials such as Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin (R). Hewitt's statement continued, noting that "The same video games played in the US are played worldwide; however, the level of gun violence is exponentially higher in the US than in other countries," also pointing to "numerous authorities" that have found no link between video games and violence. The issue is contentious and the debate looks far from over.

Source: GamesBeat

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