Game Makers Enjoy Cozy Ties With Gun Makers

The latest spate of mass shootings has renewed talk about violent video games, and the New York Times provides an example of just how closely the makers of games work with the makers of guns: When Electronic Arts was getting ready to push its new Medal of Honor Warfighter, it created a website that promoted two big gun manufacturers: Magpul and the McMillan Group. The site had links to the company's online catalogs, at least until criticism from prominent gaming enthusiasts prompted EA to disable the links.

“It was almost like a virtual showroom for guns,” says Ryan Smith, a contributor to gaming magazine Gameological Society. EA and Magpul also posted YouTube video about their ties. Despite what critics like the NRA's Wayne LaPierre might say, no studies have provided a connection to violent games and gun violence. Still, the EA example "illustrates how the firearms and videogame industries have quietly forged a mutually beneficial marketing relationship," write Barry Meier and Andrew Martin of the Times. (More gun violence stories.)