Bob Iger, chairman and chief executive of The Walt Disney Company, said in an interview last Wednesday (25th January) that he would be taking steps to monitor any violence in the video games side of the company. The statement, Deadline reports, was made during a Q&A moderated by producer Brian Grazer at a HRTS Newsmaker Luncheon. The idea, Iger said, was “to take stock in everything we've got that can be considered near the line or over the line.”
Of course, Disney games are far from the most violent out there; in fact, it's difficult to think of an example that even comes close, with most restricted to cartoon violence at most. And Iger is obviously aware of that:
Fortunately at Disney there’s very little [violent content], but I still want to make sure we’re asking ourselves the right questions in terms of that standard and also [ensure] we’re willing to be a part of a dialogue in today’s world that I think is pretty necessary in terms of what our role is and what our role should be.
Disney is presumably just being overly cautious because of its family reputation. The company will want to be seen as for the interests of children everywhere, and making a statement like this conveys this message without Disney having to really worry about having anything to lose, since none but the most avid haters of video games will be able to find anything to worry about in Disney's catalogue.
In fact, the biggest ramifications of this could be that other video game companies may now be expected to follow suit, and many of those have much more to worry about than Disney.
