Activision has now responded to news that they have been added to a lawsuit by the Uvalde families, because of Call of Duty.
It is now two years since the Uvalde school shooting, and the families have still been looking for justice and accountability. Activision joins Instagram parent company Meta, and weapons manufacturer Daniel Defense, as the parties being charged in the suit. But the devil is in the details.
The arguments over the connections between violence in media inspiring violence in real life are generally tenuous and difficult to prove, but that’s not what this lawsuit claims. This suit specifically alleges that Daniel Defense partnered with Activision and Instagram to market the gun used in the shooting, even to underage children.
Josh Koskoff, who represents the families, said this:
“This three-headed monster knowingly exposed him to the weapon, conditioned him to see it as a tool to solve his problems and trained him to use it.”
For their part, Activision shared this statement to the New York Times. As shared by CharlieIntel:
“The Uvalde shooting was horrendous and heartbreaking in every way, and we express our deepest sympathies to the families and communities who remain impacted by this senseless act of violence. Millions of people around the world enjoy video games without turning to horrific acts.”
As we had explained, this lawsuit does not make a general argument that violent media causes violence. It seems that the families and/or their legal advisors carefully deliberated how they would seek accountability, and so they made these very specific accusations.
But do the families have a case against Activision? Uncomfortably enough, there is reason to believe they were right to make these accusations, at least to prompt a public investigation.
This report from last year revealed that Activision did make a deal with another weapons manufacturer, Remington, to use Call of Duty to market their products. The deal was made in 2009, and ultimately did not lead to an increase in sales in Remington guns and weapons.
That report may be years old, but what’s relevant here is that Activision managed to keep this deal under wraps for all these years. So, it is entirely possible that Activision had a deal to market with other gun companies. We don’t know that now, but they would have to disclose it if they did, because of legal action like this.
It’s too early to tell how this lawsuit could play out, but it’s not the first such lawsuit filed vs game companies over real life violence. Microsoft has to be unhappy that they have to deal with this now just as they are set to launch Call of Duty Black Ops 6. If they want to demonstrate their good faith, they should reach out to these families and seek direct resolution that will give them satisfaction.
GameRanx wishes the best for the families at Uvalde, Texas. The courts may ultimately make a determination to the degree to which game companies like Activision are culpable for real life violence, but there is no question that they deserve justice for their loved ones.
