WTF?! The siege against video games appears to be continuing. The latest to jump on the bandwagon is Walmart, whose stores are reportedly removing "signing and displays referencing violence," with a particular emphasis on demos and ads promoting violent games.
In the wake of last weekend's mass shootings, one of which took place at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, politicians including President Trump once again claimed that violent video games are "partly" to blame, despite the numerous studies showing no link between the medium and aggression.
First reported by Vice, Walmart, which experienced another shooting at a Mississippi store a week before the El Paso incident, circulated a memo to staff asking them to review any signing or displays than contain violent images or aggressive behavior.
"Remove from the salesfloor or turn off these items immediately," reads the letter.
Additionally, the memo asks staff to "turn off or unplug any video game display consoles that show a demo of violent games, specifically PlayStation and Xbox units." It adds that these demo units will be updated next week.
"Cancel any events promoting combat style or third-person shooter games that may be scheduled in Electronics."
"Verify that no movies depicting violence are playing Electronics."
Journalist Kenneth Shepard posted a copy of the letter on Twitter, which you can see in its entirety below.
Apparently Walmart is telling its employees to take down displays that show violent video games, specifically shooters, as well as movies and hunting videos. pic.twitter.com/2N3t4B86tf
--- Kenneth Shepard (@shepardcdr) August 7, 2019
While Walmart is in a hurry to hide any signs of virtual guns, the nation's largest retailer has confirmed it isn't going to stop selling the real weapons. Company CEO Doug McMillon wrote in a Facebook post that it would "work to understand the many important issues that arise from El Paso and Southaven, as well as those that have been raised in the broader national discussion around gun violence," but spokesman Randy Hargrove told USA Today that "there's been no change in policy" regarding gun sales.
Following the damning comments against video games, the Entertainment Software Association responded by refuting claims of their link to violent behaviour.