The numbers are in: games are becoming less violent. A study of this month’s E3 trade event by industry publication Gamesindustry.biz found that 33 per cent of the games shown at the event contained no violence, almost double the number identified in 2019. This is heartening news because, while we know violent games do not cause real-world violence, it’s refreshing to see developers tackle a broader range of themes which represent the interests of an increasingly diverse gaming audience.
Of the 115 non-violent titles on show, including six from Nintendo and four from Xbox, a striking 63 came from just one presentation: a new platform called Wholesome Games. Founded by indie developer Matthew Taylor in 2019 to spotlight “uplifting and thoughtful” games, the volunteer-run project now boasts 200,000 fans across various platforms. At E3 it crammed 75 games into an hour-long showcase with no incentive other than to promote developers who operate outside the gloomy, blood-spattered halls of the gaming mainstream.
“Wholesome” refers to a tone rather than a gameplay genre. Most examples are brightly coloured with charming characters and storylines that eschew saving the world in favour of more mundane goals: cooking, farming, hiking, fishing, looking after a pet. Wholesomeness is a question of game design as much as aesthetics — instead of motivating players by exploiting the fight-or-flight response, gamifying bloodlust and punishing failure, wholesome games often elicit empathy and kindness via a more positive mechanic sometimes known as “tend-and-befriend”.