Violent video games may help lessen violence in reality

A new study has shown that releasing aggressive video games may actually lessen the violence in real-world.

The surprising large-scale research by from Villanova University and Rutgers University Villanova, discovered that the games might actually be responsible for a decrease in homicides and aggregated assaults.

In a series of analyses examining annual and monthly video game sales and crime statistics provided by the FBI during the past 30 years, it was found that sales of violent video games were related to decreases in violent crime. Specific analysis of the most popular violent video games (Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty, Halo) even found that homicides consistently decreased following the release of these billion dollar franchises.

Lead author, Professor Patrick Markey, suggested that it might be so as they effectively remove violent individuals from other social venues where they might have otherwise committed a violent act. In other words, violent individuals might be at home playing a violent video game instead of engaging in other activities that were likelier to result in a violent altercation.

The study is published online in the American Psychological Association's journal of Psychology and Popular Media Culture.