The shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School this past weekend sent gun sales skyrocketing, whether out of fear of more violence, or of particular weapons soon going the way of the dinosaur. However, investors in the game industry are worried about the event having the opposite effect, especially now that talk is growing over proposed legislation and investigations into the possible effects of video game violence.
But Cowen & Company are reassuring investors from their fears. Speaking with Gamespot, analyst Doug Creutz revealed that while investors in the games industry have grown concerned over the possibility of proposed legislation over, any impact would be "minor at most."
Creutz pointed out that regulating videogame sales would be an uphill battle for legislators, reminding investors of the Supreme Court's ruling last summer shooting down a law preventing the sale and/or rental of "violent" video games to minors.
"We believe that any new attempts to regulate video game sales would be quickly struck down by the courts based on this precedent," said Creutz.
It's the analysts belief that the combination of legislative dificulty and market anticipation for Sony and Microsoft's new consoles "represents a buying opportunity ahead of what should be a strong year for the industry in 2013." Spurring this emotion along are the continued sales of other "violent" videogames such as Halo 4, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, in the wake of the shooting.
Translation: The debate will continue, but we'll keep getting to play games, and investors keep getting to make money.
