Another day, another violent games story. In the past few days, we've been rather busy covering the latest accusations from certain US politicians (President Donald Trump included) made against games and violent games in particular after the mass shootings that took place in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio. Of course, the Entertainment Software Association quickly countered the argument and so did several psychologists and experts on the subject.
Nevertheless, it seems like Trump's deliberate cry against the gruesome and grisly violent games did find root at least in Walmart, the world's largest public company by revenue (over $500 billion in 2018), headquartered in Arkansas.
Walmart has issued a notice to all of its employees, urging to take down any ads of violent games, as well as movies depicting violence and hunting season videos. The notice was first shared on Twitter by freelance journalist Kenneth Shepard and several employees have since confirmed to have received it.
Sadly, Walmart stores are still selling guns and the company doesn't seem inclined to change that, even in the wake of the latest tragedies.
Immediate Action: Remove Signing and Displays Referencing Violence
Review your store for any signing or displays that contain violent images or aggressive behavior.
Remove from the salesfloor or turn off these items immediately.
Use your best judgment when determining whether an element is appropriate. If you are unsure, remove the item or turn it off as a precautionary measure.
What I Need to Do
• Turn off or unplug any video game display consoles that show a demo of violent games,
specifically PlayStation and Xbox units. Anderson merchandisers will be in your store to
update these demo units within the 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 in Electronics.
• Turn off any hunting season videos that may be playing in Sporting Goods, and remove any monitors or displays that show the videos.
• Check all signing throughout the store and remove any referencing combat or third-person shooter video games.
• For questions or assistance, contact the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at 479-277
1001.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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