Gaming Community Rallies Behind GoreBox as Philippines Debates Video Game Links to Violence

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A 17-year-old minor was arrested for his involvement in a shooting at a Tacloban school that left three students dead and 20 others wounded. The minor's alleged accomplices, also minors, are currently in custody. The government has temporarily banned GoreBox, a popular physics-driven sandbox game, citing its alleged connection to the shooting.

But, experts warn that the issue runs deeper. "Gaming communities have become networks of socialization and monetization, where users are constantly connected and can easily spread radical ideas," says Victor Barreiro Jr. in a piece published last March. Malign online actors have used popular games like Roblox to create spaces for indoctrination, where users can recreate real violent attacks.

In the case of Roblox, users can build maps that mimic conditions of tragic mass shootings such as the Columbine high school mass shooting in 1999. An April 2025 study by the Anti-Defamation League found that people make money by building maps for games that glorify violence. In a February 2026 report, the GNET highlighted a nihilistic violence subculture on social media platforms, which promotes violence and uses acts of violence to gain status within a community.

The Philippine government is now investigating the incident, including looking into various factors that may have led to the shooting. Already suspended is the aunt of one of the minors involved, a non-commissioned policewoman, who owned the Glock pistol used in the shooting. The Senate committee on women, children, family relations, and gender equality, led by Senator Risa Hontiveros, is holding a hearing on the incident on July 1, but the GoreBox developer has declined to attend.

The gaming community is defending GoreBox, describing it as a niche title that deserves more discussion. However, experts warn that the issue of online extremism is complex and deep-seated, requiring a global effort to address. "It'll take an entire global community — from parents actively engaging with their kids and being present in their lives, to law enforcement doing the dirty job of finding and stopping extremist content," Victor concludes.

Context: Online Extremism

The issue of online extremism is not new in the Philippines. In 2022, a student in Marikina took his father's gun to school, pointed it at a classmate, then at himself, and then fired. He died in the hospital. In 2023, a student in Batangas brought a handgun to school, fired twice into a classroom floor, then shot himself dead.