A Third Of E3 2021's Games Were Non-Violent

Video games with violent content may have dominated E3's headlines this year, but a new study from GamesIndustry.Biz revealed that the number of non-violent titles on offer saw a huge increase in 2021. According to the study, which looked at 349 video games showcased across 15 events and applied a set list of rules to determine what a non-violent game was, 115 games met the required criteria or around 33% of games in total.

Last week's Wholesome Direct unsurprisingly accounted for more than half of these games, while other shows like Devolver Digital, Future Games Show, and Nintendo added to the list. For the sake of comparison, E3 2019 had just 41 non-violent games on offer, 17 of which came from major publishers through the likes of ID@Xbox or Square Enix Collective.

Out of the biggest names present during E3, Nintendo had the highest proportion of non-violent games with 22% of its line-up. Games such as Cruis'n Blast, Super Monkey Ball, and a port of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 for the Switch helped it climb 7% higher when compared to its 2019 offerings.

Xbox had 13% of its games classified as non-violent in the study, down from 24% in 2019, but it's also worth noting that it had fewer games to show off this year and no ID@Xbox montage to help pad its numbers out. Ubisoft was down from 31% of its games being non-violent in 2019 to just 10% in 2021, with Riders Republic, Rocksmith+, Just Dance 2022, and the new Assassin's Creed Valhalla Discovery Tour presenting softer options.

As for Square Enix, Koch Media, Capcom, and Gearbox Entertainment? All three companies had solo presentations, without a single non-violent game to be found among them.

For even more wholesome content, don't forget to check out GameSpot's Play For All coverage that will highlight upcoming games, trailer, and a few panels with friends.