The most common argument against computer games is that video games promote violence. A counter-argument commonly expressed in the video game community is that playing these games does not motivate players to actually commit acts of violence in reality; playing a "first person shooter" game does not cause most people to commit murder.

While most gamers do admit that there are occasionally violent or horrifying incidents as a result of video games, they maintain that it is obviously an extremely small percentage. If this was not the case, the results would be obvious. While millions of people play computer games, only a handful people have been affected by violence etc as a result. Gamers claim that they are being used as a scapegoat for occasional tragedies with no hard evidence to support the accusations against them.

Over two hundred studies have been published which examine the effects of violence in entertainment media and which at least partially focus on violence in video games in particular. Some psychological studies have shown a Correlation between children playing violent video games and suffering psychological effects, though the vast majority stop short of actually becoming Violent.