Videogame Makers Fight Efforts to Study Link to Violence

Legislative proposals to study whether videogames are linked to real-life violence or mental health -- prompted by a rash of mass shootings -- have stalled amid a campaign by the industry to quash the efforts, according to lobbying records and lawmakers.

The Entertainment Software Association fought such bills in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland and New Jersey this year and in Oklahoma last year, records and interviews show. The measures either died or are locked in legislative committees. The association, whose 34 members include Microsoft and the U.S. subsidiaries of Sony and Nintendo, now are taking aim at a similar federal bill, according to records and a co-sponsor of the bill. Multiple studies have delved into violent media and its effects with varying and hotly debated results. Some have shown correlations between videogames and aggression, while others said the results are flawed. Critics accuse the industry of trying to discourage scrutiny of a booming business. Global videogame sales outpaced music sales in 2011 and grew faster than movies, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. Game sales are expected to climb to $82.9 billion annually by 2017 from the expected $65.5 billion this year.