Investing.com - Video game stocks were under pressure in midday trade Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump said violent video games were partly to blame for mass shootings.
His comments were made in the wake of two mass shootings over the weekend, with 20 people killed at a Walmart (NYSE:WMT) store in El Paso, Texas and nine people were killed in a separate shooting in Dayton, Ohio.
Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI) slumped 5.5%, while Take-Two (NASDAQ:TTWO) fell 5% and Zynga (NASDAQ:ZNGA) was down 3.8%. Retailer GameStop (NYSE:GME) declined 3.8% and Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) lost 3.6%.
“We must stop the glorification of violence in our society,” Trump said during a speech on Monday. “This includes the gruesome and grisly video games that are now commonplace.”
A connection between violent video games and violent behavior has not been established and is debated on by experts.