
New Truth Initiative® research underscores concern about the glamorization of smoking in video games with a survey that shows tobacco use is rarely portrayed negatively in video games.
Participants in a Truth Initiative study of video game players said that they felt tobacco, or nicotine, was portrayed negatively in only 6.5 percent of games where tobacco use appeared. The survey respondents — 200 video game players aged 18 and over — reported that 93.5 percent of video games showing tobacco use portrayed it in a positive or neutral light.
This research supplements the annual Truth Initiative report “Played: Smoking and Video Games,” which details why smoking in video games is a public health problem.