Three-Axes of Morality in Games

A game design tool based on in-game morals

There has been an on-going discussion for years on the influence of games on society. One side protests that video games stimulate aggressive behavior and normalize violence (Grossman and DeGaetano, 2014). According to this line of thought, killing (human) beings in a video game should trigger a negative reaction from gamers. As the opposite happens, players have fun and amuse themselves while playing such games, it is understood that their morals and values have been damaged.

On the other side, violent media, including games, use a strategy called moral management that allows its viewers (and players) to cope with its contents without conflicting with their own values and not becoming permanently violent (Klimmt et al., 2006).

More precisely, this is achieved through moral disengagement, which allows for a temporal suspension of moral standards (Bandura, 1999). This process enables players to bypass moral concerns from playing violent games and perceive them as an entertaining experience without damaging their own morals or values.

Moral disengagement can be achieved through different means. One of them, e.g., is by the dehumanization of the victims (Bandura, 1999). In this sense, "killing" in a game is seen as "justifiable" because its…