Activision Blizzard led the major videogame publisher stocks downward Monday as President Trump, speaking after two deadly weekend mass shootings in Texas and Ohio, cited violent games as an underlying cause of violence.

Shares of Activision (ticker: ATVI) finished Monday down 6% to $46.10, slightly narrowing earlier losses, as the S&P 500 fell 2.9%. Electronic Arts (EA) lost 4.6% to $88.59, while Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) fell 5.2% to $115.38.

The president’s comments, echoed by some other politicians after shooters killed dozens in El Paso and Dayton, redirected attention at the game makers, which have been frequent targets of scrutiny after such events.

“We must stop the glorification of violence in our society,” Trump said Monday. “This includes the gruesome and grisly videogames that are now commonplace. It is too easy today for troubled youth to surround themselves with a culture that celebrates violence.”

EA and Activision referred Barron’s to the Entertainment Software Association, an industry group based in Washington.

“Numerous scientific studies have established that there is no causal connection between videogames and violence,” the ESA said in a statement. “More than 165 million Americans enjoy videogames, and billions of people play videogames world-wide. Yet other societies, where videogames are played as avidly, do not contend with the tragic levels of violence that occur in the U.S.”

Trump’s statements came before Take-Two released quarterly financial results Monday. After the bell, the company said adjusted revenue beat Street expectations while boosting guidance.



Posted: Aug 06, 2019 6:20 pm
Related Forum: Call of Duty Forum

Source: https://www.barrons.com/articles/activision-leads-game-stocks-down-after-deadly-u-s-shootings-51565029942