Policy Positions
Digital Wellness
Digital Wellness
Video games are fun, often educational and, increasingly, therapeutic. Billions of players worldwide enjoy video games as part of a healthy, well-balanced lifestyle. The ability of people around the world to continue to benefit from this technology depends upon policies that foster and celebrate gameplay.
Video games are fun, often educational and, increasingly, therapeutic. More and more people report that video games provide stress relief while creating positive mental stimulation. Medical professionals and health experts now recognize the benefits of gameplay, employing games to achieve positive health outcomes for patients of all ages. The ability of players, students, patients and numerous others around the world to continue to benefit from this technology depends upon policies that foster and celebrate gameplay for the billions of players who enjoy video games as part of a healthy, well-balanced lifestyle.
The video game industry supports digital wellness by providing information and tools for all audiences to make educated, age-appropriate decisions regarding video games. Nearly all video game devices offer parental controls. These tools offer parents and players the ability to efficiently set preferences that are appropriate for their household. These controls enable parents to block video games by age rating category, manage the amount of money their kids can spend playing video games and limit the amount of time their kids can spend playing video games.
In addition, for more than 25 years, the industry has worked through the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) to ensure that consumers—especially parents and caregivers—have the resources, including voluntary ratings, needed to make informed decisions about video games. The effectiveness of these efforts has been praised by the U.S. Supreme Court and U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
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