Gamers are worried that Trump will ban video games if he wins

A statement by the former president regarding violent games being the reason for rising crime hinted at the possible ban. On social media, gamers have been sharing their concern that Trump may ban video games in case he wins the November elections. 

A video by an X user was shared on October 15th indicating that Republican candidate recently talked about banning video games. He further asked to advertise the video on other platforms like YouTube and Reddit as well as alerting the gaming community.

“We must stop the glorification of violence in our society. This includes the gruesome and horrible video games that are now commonplace. It’s too easy for troubled youth to surround themselves with a culture that celebrates violence. We must stop or substantially reduce this.”

Donald Trump

On Reddit, there is a discussion going on under “Can’t believe we’re getting Trump banning violent video games before GTA 6”.

One comment by a user said that video games is a 200 billion-dollar industry. It’s remotely not possible to ban the games even if they debated about it. This comment does make sense.

But the question stays if the former president actually intends to ban video games if he is elected as the president for the second time.

Is Trump going to ban video games? Doesn’t seem so.

First, the statement by former president is indeed true. However, it is taken in the wrong context. Second, it is only portrayed as something that he recently said, which is untrue.

The video which is currently going viral is sourced back to 2019, five years ago. So gamers should take a deep breath as Trump has not mentioned anything regarding the “ban on video games” in his second election campaign.

While in August 2024, Trump also appeared on Adin Ross’s stream on Kick. The streamer gained his fame from his broadcasts of NBA 2k and regular violent Grand Theft Auto. The Republican candidate also proudly said that his kids motivated him to appear on the famous content creator’s stream.

This shows a different stance of Trump regarding video games than before. His context back then was directed toward regulations of violent games, and how they are easily accessible without scrutiny for minors. The reason for this was the tragic shootings in El Paso, Dayton, Texas, and Ohio.

However, there was no action taken against the gaming industry, when he was serving as the president.

Trump’s campaigns actually rely heavily on the promotion of crypto, which also includes Web 3 gaming. Many big games have also incorporated digital assets. So, Trump’s intentions to ban video games will not only contradict his own campaign, but can also result in losing a major chunk of potential voters.