Activision was named in a lawsuit that was filed on the 2nd anniversary of the horrific Uvalde school shooting that alleges the Call of Duty publisher bears responsibility for the incident.
An attorney who won a settlement for Sandy Hook school shooting victims' families brought a new pair of lawsuits in relation to the deadly 2022 Robb Elementary shooting. The legal action targets rifle manufacturer Daniel Defense, Facebook parent company Meta, and Activision.
Activision Named in Uvalde School Shooting Lawsuit
(Photo : Activision / Screenshot taken from official website)
Legal documents alleged that the defendants all bear responsibility for the incident because they radicalized a "socially vulnerable" demographic by glorifying violence and making weaponry easily accessible.
With regards to Activision's alleged responsibility on the matter, the lawsuit is seeking to connect the promotion of real-world weaponry to "vulnerable" young men who are "insecure about their masculinity, often bullied, eager to show strength and assert dominance."
This could very well be the first-ever case to connect an "aggressive" firearm marketing strategy, both on social media and in the Call of Duty franchise, to the events of a specific shooting in the real world, according to GameDeveloper.
The complaint read that over the last 15 years, two of the United States' largest technology companies, Activision and Meta, have partnered with the firearms industry. It noted that this was in a scheme that made the Joe Camel campaign look laughably harmless and even quaint in comparison.
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The lawsuits claim that the two companies are complicit in the actions of the shooter, Salvador Ramos, by exposing him to the weapon (via the game), marketing it to him (via social media), and making it easy for him to purchase an automatic rifle (also via social media).
It is worth noting however that the lawsuits also seek accountability from the officers who responded to the incident two years ago. At the time, personnel waited for more than an hour to act against the school shooter, and resulted in one of the deadliest school shootings in the history of the U.S.
Grooming the Shooter
The latest lawsuit comes after 19 families of students and teachers who were killed during the school shooting announced on Wednesday that they settled with the city for $2 million. Activision's involvement comes as the shooter allegedly downloaded Call of Duty: Modern Warfare in November 2021, said CNN.
The game features a weapon from Daniel Defense known as the DDM4 V7, which served as "a teaser for players eager to try out the weapon."
The lawsuit noted that on top of hundreds of images depicting and glorifying the thrill of combat, Daniel Defense used Instagram to extol the illegal and murderous use of its weapons.
A representative for Activision said that the company was expressing its "deepest sympathies" to the families of the victims. However, they also noted that they disagree with the conclusion that the Call of Duty franchise motivated the school shooter to do what he did.
They said that "millions of people around the world enjoy video games without turning to horrific acts" and added that the accusations were "baseless." This is the latest and probably most high-profile claim that violent video games make players more aggressive in the real world, according to PCGamer.
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