"Not reflective of the overwhelmingly positive and enjoyable experience the majority of players have."
The Interactive Games and Entertainment Association (IGEA) has labelled a report by ABC’s Four Corners as “unbalanced and not reflective of the overwhelmingly positive and enjoyable experience the majority of players have.”
Four Corners’ report, “Are You Being Played,” aired last night and is now available on YouTube as “Video gaming investigated: The sneaky tactics used to take your time and money” (available in full below). Predominently, the report focused on “the business models used by the gaming industry and examine how some games are being deliberately designed to extract maximum time and money from players.”
A number of politicans, developers, psychiatrists and players were interviewed for the 44-minute report, including the IGEA’s own Ron Curry.
In a statment released to its website, the IGEA said, “video games have been an incredibly popular and enjoyable pastime for those who play them, including two-thirds of all Australians. The implications and assumptions about games made in the ‘Four Corners’ piece last night are unbalanced and not reflective of the overwhelmingly positive and enjoyable experience the majority of players have when engaging with the many different kinds of games available today.
“Through our Digital Australia research series, Australians have told us how video games help their wellbeing. During COVID-19 in particular, people have increasingly turned to video games to stay connected to their family and friends, to keep their minds occupied, to relieve stress, to stay active, to find new ways to learn, and to cope with isolation. Many people have played video games for the first time during COVID-19 and experienced the positive effects that games can have on their lives.”
The organisation’s full statment goes on to list available tools and guides to “help players and their parents and carers monitor their game play.”
What do you make of Four Corners’ report?
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