A 2015 meta-analysis of 170 separate studies, conducted by the American Psychological Association, found no statistically significant relationship between these games and criminal violence or delinquency.

But deeper in the report, another finding points to a real and urgent problem: toxic gaming culture. The APA noted that research showed a connection between violent video games and increased aggression, as well as “decreases in prosocial behavior, empathy and sensitivity to aggression.” Anyone who has spent any time playing online shooters, only to be bombarded by venomous taunts over voice chat , knows this to be true. The issue isn’t that games themselves induce violence — we know they don’t — but that the gamer community has provided a gathering place for some furious, hateful individuals and encouraged their worst tendencies.