Survey: 51% Want Regulation Of Mature Game Content

Public relations and public affairs consultancy Hill & Knowlton has released the results of a survey, conducted online by Opinion Research Corporation, which found that 60 percent of 1,147 adult U.S. consumers agree that the government should regulate the sale of violent or mature content. Additionally, a slight majority, or 51 percent, of respondents said that the government should be responsible for regulating the content itself, while 54 percent of those with children in the home concurred that violent or mature content will affect a child's behavior. As for current gamers surveyed, they split evenly on whether the government should regulate violent content specifically in games, with 44 percent agreeing it should and 47 percent responding it should not. Additionally, 55 percent of gamers also believe that the government should regulate only the sale of games with violent or mature content. Hill & Knowlton director Joe Paluska said of the results, "Next generation consoles combined with a near-Hollywood experience translates into increased scrutiny for a $7.4 billion industry that seeks to outpace movies and music as the number one choice for entertainment. We're seeing an interesting shift in economic growth and societal influence across gaming, movies and music. While the gaming industry is forecast to grow faster than the motion picture and recording industries, gaming still under-punches its cultural influence except when it comes to mature content."