Parents Beware: Porn Companies Are Targeting Video Gamers

If you think that pornography’s market is limited to online videos, books, and magazines, you’re wrong. Porn is now making major inroads into two areas that will tighten its grip even more – online gaming and virtual reality.

According to Ben Miller, Digital Strategies Coordinator for the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), as of 2013, the number of video games containing pornographic sexual violence was minimal. But the numbers are now skyrocketing.

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One popular video game website hosted about 780 games with nudity in 2017, but in 2018 they hosted over 1,600 such games. That’s more than double the growth in just ONE year!

Porn Company Moving Into Video Games

Miller said,

“Porn games don’t simply contain sex and nudity. Rather, they are much more graphic. Some of these games promote sexual harassment and assault. Despite being cartoons, the graphic content in these games is far from harmless. Animated porn fuels sexual addiction and shapes sexual palettes just as regular porn does.”

Alarmingly, the distributor provides free-to-play games in addition to their purchased products. This free option will allow young kids easier access to the content, bypassing paywalls intended to block children’s ability to play the games.

NCOSE noted that the provider’s website traffic has exploded from 50 million to 115 million visits between April and August 2018, ranking it in the top 500 websites in the world.

Parents need to be aware of the impact the increase in pornographic online gaming may have on their children.

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Marriage and Family Therapist Dr. Jill Manning told Internet Security 101,

“Parents need to understand how intricately linked the gaming industry and pornography industry are. More and more games have pornography embedded in them. If kids play online, that is a pornographer’s heyday for marketing, grooming and hooking young consumers.”

Virtual Reality (VR) is also booming

Another major adult gaming portal announced in May that it is expanding into virtual reality with two new VR products. Through the use of a headset such as the Oculus Rift (owned by Facebook), a viewer is able to enter a totally manufactured environment and tune out the reality of their actual situation.

Fortune Magazine stated, “By 2025, adult virtual reality content is forecast to be a $1 billion business, the third biggest sector behind video games and NFL-related content, according to Piper Jaffray analyst Travis Jakel.”

Todd Glider, CEO of one VR adult entertainment company, clearly stated that “VR will become the standard in the industry for today’s younger male consumers.”

Related Article: Virtual Reality Porn Is the Next Greatest Threat to the Church

He continued,

“I see it through a generational lens. VR porn will not have a pronounced effect on the demographic born before 1980. However, for the generations born after, the ones that reach adulthood in a world where 24/7 access to adult content is just a mouse click away, that’s the audience for VR porn, and it will be huge.”

Is The Church Ready For This?

Christian apologist and evangelist, Josh McDowell, is featured in the Conquer Series, a powerful cinematic study that is helping families deal with pornography. In the Conquer Series McDowell describes his experience with virtual reality. He asked to have a villa created. When he put on the headset, he was amazed at the total immersion experience and felt he was actually in the villa.

“And then it hit me, “ McDowell said. “What this would do with pornography, and nobody’s talking about it. As one pornographer said, ‘It’s been our dream as pornographers for 100 years’. It’ll take pornography from here, right through the ceiling. It’ll make everything I’ve said about pornography, or anyone else over the last eight years, child’s play.”

Related Article: What The Porn Industry Doesn’t Want You To Find Out

McDowell added,

“Is the church ready for this? No! Because the church is not aware of it. I can hardly find anyone that understands virtual reality in the church. Pastors or anything. I mean, you say, “Well, do you know what Oculus Rift is?” It’s like they’re in wooly wooly land. The church is not ready for it and we don’t have long. It’s already mainlined in the world. When it becomes mainlined in the church it’s a hundred times harder to equip people for it.”

The Threat Is Real – Protect Your Children

The pornography industry has no intention of backing off or slowing down in its quest to continually find more distribution pathways. Parents must be diligent in their efforts to protect their children from the onslaught of porn.

Viewing virtual reality requires wearing a headset, which most children probably couldn’t afford. But the free-to-play online games are easy to access and can be done more secretly.

Related Article: 4 Ways Porn Is Hurting Our Children

Here are some steps you can take to protect your children:

1. Keep the gaming device or computer in a high-traffic area, not in the child’s room, even if you already have an internet filter service.
2. Remove the headphones and make them use the computer’s speakers so you can hear any online chatting.
3. Set up all of your children’s game accounts and console controls. You decide who has access to their gaming profile and who your child can talk to. Many systems have parental controls so take time learning how to implement them.
4. Read reviews and understand the industry rating system. Make sure the game is age-appropriate.
5. Talk to your children. Teach them basic internet safety roles and to notify you if they encounter anything unusual or unsettling while they are playing. Build a non-shaming relationship with your child so that if they do come across adult content, they can approach you and talk about it.

Prepare Your Family

The global porn epidemic touches all of our lives. Perhaps you struggle with pornography and want to break free of its hold on you. Or maybe you want to learn more about the problem so you can be better prepared to protect your family.

The Conquer Series was created to give men a proven resource to help them achieve a porn-free life. The powerful video segments, compelling testimonies, and strong Biblical teaching will equip you with valuable information about the porn battle.

Ask your church leaders to get the Conquer Series so all the men of your church can go through the course together. Or you can sign up to get personal access. Online and local small groups are also available for you to join for support and encouragement.

Now is the time to enter the battle for the next generation. Get digital access at SoulRefiner.com.