EA dropping gun brand names in games

With the debate of video game-related and gun-related violence reaching an all-time high following some sad events, game publisher Electronic Arts has decided to drop the well-known weaponry brand names from its games.

Electronic Arts licensed weapons from companies like McMillan Group International as part of a marketing collaboration for Medal of Honor: Warfighter, but the company has now said that it is severing ties with the manufacturers.

That said, EA has explained that it still will feature branded guns, but doesn’t require the license or partnership to do so.

Brad J. Bushman, a professor at Ohio State University, explained the relation between in-game guns versus the real weapons.

“It gives publicity to the particular brand of gun being used in the video game,” said Bushman. “On the other hand, it’s linking that gun with violent and aggressive behaviour.”

The most recent incidents which have been attributed to video game violence (whether accurate or not) included a boy shooting his own mother over a Call of Duty ban, while another teenager cut the throat of a former friend after an argument over Gears of War.