A new study reveals that playing violent video games might decrease stress hormones and does not increase aggression, challenging previous assumptions about the negative impact of these games on behavior.

In a surprising twist to the long-debated topic of video game violence, a recent study suggests that playing violent video games might actually decrease stress hormones in some players. Contrary to popular belief, the study found no increase in aggressive tendencies, indicating a more complex relationship between video game content and player responses than previously thought. The findings have been published in the scientific journal Physiology & Behavior.

For years, the impact of violent video games on behavior has been a contentious subject. Past research has often pointed towards a potential increase in aggression and stress among players of these games. This belief has fueled ongoing debates among parents, educators, and policymakers regarding the suitability of such games for young audiences. Motivated by these discussions and inconsistencies in previous findings, researchers embarked on a new study to explore the physiological and psychological effects of violent video games more comprehensively.

    • @Arkaelus
      2•10 months ago

      Would add Darktide here from a gameplay perspective. The melee in that one is… chef’s kiss.

      From pretty much all other perspectives… it’s a TenCent game, so I’m really conflicted.

      • andrew_bidlaw
        2•10 months ago

        Obese Megalodon are a nice team tho. Dorks at communicating with their fans, but they don’t stop delivering and creating unique (if similar) products. Even DRG doesn’t hit the same strings as stomping rats or now cultists with a big hammer while slowly dying inside from personal tragedies. A game about a long-gone franchise? A WH40k FPS game where you aren’t a marine? Let them be funded by the devil itself - there’s not many studios like them who manage to stay afloat while staying extremely niche.

        I feel like Tencent just buys a piece of everything at that point. There haven’t been a proof it means something yet and they didn’t buy a key amount of stonks anywhere iirc. Probably, having a chinese firm formally on the board is now a requirement to enter the promised land of billion+ people if you don’t have as much leverage as Blizz or Apple. I hope these money went to the team, since it’s Sweden and they are good about it. My first mtx since TF2 was a meme piggy hat in their game, because I felt I can support them this way, if just a little.

        Fanboy rant’s over.

        • @Arkaelus
          1•10 months ago

          Agreed, the team’s talent and passion shine through, it’s a really satisfying FPS, engaging team-based comp stomper, and damned solid 40k ‘mood’ game (not a slight toward the design, quite the opposite!) Soundtrack’s kickass, too!

          I’d say TenCent made itself felt in the monetisation, especially in prioritising it over basically every other secondary mechanic from the start. Feels like all of that effort would have helped build more of this good game, y’know?

          • andrew_bidlaw
            2•10 months ago

            Someone downvoted you before I followed the notification. I don’t know why lol.

            Maybe you are right, but there are many studios that introduced such tactics without any guidance, so by Occam’s razor I’d be more inclined to lay that on stupidity rather than foreign influence. And what irks me more – FatShark are no Epic, their CEOs won’t even sit at the same table, I’m surprised TenCent even bothered to buy into their stocks.

            I’d stay with my idea of it being the access ticket into chinese market because no one, literally no one would buy these stocks intentionally - who’d even know who they are? Or, as my plan B, they just bought whatever was traded in bulk, using these cheap money they’ve got with a building baloon earlier, without care. Something would fly, something would drown, calculate the difference and reinvest.