The Director of the God of War series has responded to claims by US President Donald Trump that video games are partly to blame for the mass shootings which took place in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio this past weekend.
During a speech in the wake of the killings, Trump said: “We must stop the glorification of violence in our society “This includes the gruesome and grisly video games that are now commonplace.
“It is too easy today for troubled youth to surround themselves with a culture that celebrates violence. We must stop or substantially reduce this, and it has to begin immediately.”
The president did not give any details on what form that crackdown might take or how it would be launched.
It seems that Cory Barlog, the video game director of God of War, is skeptical about President Trump’s claims.
In a post on Twitter, Barlog wrote: “Wait… that’s it???? Violent video games and mental health? Not the high powered weapons of war being sold to civilians by the millions that are actually being USED to carry out these acts of domestic terror??”
This is not the first time Trump has attempted to link violent video games with the cause of a gunman’s actions.
In 2018, following the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, the President held a series of school safety meetings at the White House to try to address the crisis.
In the meetings, President Trump repeatedly brought up violence portrayed in media including video games, movies and on the internet.
