The Gamification of Mass Violence: Social Factors, Video Game Influence, and Attack Presentation in the Christchurch Mass Shooting and Its Copycats - Notes

Abstract

• The study closely analyzed the Christchurch shooter (BT) and seven copycats to understand how gamification can lead vulnerable individuals to commit mass violence.
• BT and the copycats shared similarities in:
  • Demographics and ideology
  • Social isolation in the physical world
  • Video game influences on radicalization and attacks
  • Specific ways they engaged in gamification
• Substantial differences existed between these attackers and typical video game players.
• Perpetrators’ social needs were a major driving factor, but attacks occurred after gaming and online extremism failed to satisfy them.

Introduction

• The idea that video games could cause mass violence has been largely dismissed by scholars.
• The American Psychological Association suggests that blaming video games for desensitizing young people to violence "is not scientifically sound and draws attention away from other factors."
• People are generally less comfortable acting extremely in face-to-face interactions compared to online interactions.
• Approximately 30% of mass shooters are known to have played video games, which may not be more than members of the general population.
• The increasing prevalence and extremity of video games correlate with the increasing deadliness of mass shootings, but correlation does not equal causation.
• The same correlation exists for other technological advances like electric cars, smartphones, and digital music, which are not blamed for mass shootings.

Gamification Concept

• Gamification is "the use of game design elements in non-game contexts" or "the process of adding games or game-like elements to something (such as a task) so as to encourage participation."
• Any job, duty, or task could be gamified to seem more exciting by adopting elements from any type of game.
• The gamification of mass violence and terrorism has drawn directly from first-person shooter video games.
• Attacks presented in a gamified manner could encourage copycat attacks.

Christchurch Shooting

• The 2019 Christchurch, New Zealand mass shooting killed 51 people and injured 40.
• The Christchurch shooter (BT) live-streamed a far-right terror attack to an international audience using Facebook Live.
• Edited versions of the attack video appeared online with game interfaces added.
• Viewers created "playable" versions of BT’s real attack, recreated it in other games, and added BT as a playable character.
• BT gained influence as a role model, garnered attention from gamers and gaming subcultures, and attracted followers.
• BT appears to have directly inspired at least seven similar copycat attacks and multiple failed plots worldwide.

Study of Christchurch Shooter and Copycats

• A close analysis was conducted on the Christchurch shooter (BT) and his seven copycats.
• The study aimed to understand how gamification can lead vulnerable individuals to commit mass violence and increase the likelihood of copycat attackers.
• The study investigated:
  • Basic characteristics of each perpetrator and attack
  • Perpetrators’ social lives (or struggles) in the physical world
  • Video game influences on their radicalization and attack
  • Ways they appeared to engage in gamification
• Potential differences between these attackers and typical video game players were investigated with a focus on social factors.
• In-depth investigations of these cases may facilitate violence prevention.

Mass Violence and Copycat Attacks

• Even without gamification, there is a risk of copycat attacks when mass shooters or terrorists receive outsized media coverage.
• When perpetrators are perceived as “celebrity killers,” they are more likely to inspire copycats.
• Copycats relate to their personal stories, learn from their crimes, copy their behavior, and/or try to exceed their death and destruction.
• Research indicates copycat or contagion effects in aggressive behavior, violent crime, mass killings, and terrorism.
• This problem has been conceptualized using terms such as “copycat behavior,” “contagion,” “generalized imitation,” “role modeling,” “direct influence,” “learned behavior,” “free advertising,” and “thresholds of violence.”

Evidence of Copycat Effects

• The most compelling evidence suggests that copycat effects pose a long-term threat regarding mass shootings.
• While data on short-term effects (within days or weeks) is mixed, many perpetrators have openly stated inspiration from earlier shooters.
• Influence does not appear to have geographical limits due to the internet and globalization of information technology.
• Mass shooters from the United States have been cited as role models by attackers worldwide, and to a lesser extent, attackers from other countries have also exerted cross-national influence.
• Copycat attackers tend to be younger, possibly because they are more susceptible to role models and imitation.

Similarities Between Role Models and Copycat Attackers

• Copycats have considered previous shooters to be “heroes,” “gods,” or “kindred spirits,” and adopted similar language and clothes.
• Studies of the 2016 Baton Rouge police shooter and the 2019 Virginia Beach shooter both found that those perpetrators had violent role models who were similar based on demographic factors (age, sex, race) and motives for attacking.
• Similar language was used by the 2019 Christchurch shooter and copycats in their manifestos.
• Several of BT’s copycats wrote manifestos with ideological material and discussion of strategies, weapons, or attack plans.
• Some of BT's copycats similarly gamified their attacks.

Factors Influencing Inspiration of Copycat Attackers

• Little research explains why some mass killers inspire copycat attackers, while others do not.
• Mass killers who have received more media attention and attacked in the United States have been more likely to inspire copycats than lower-profile perpetrators and those in other countries.
• These findings provide only a partial explanation for the complex process of influence and imitation.
• The research did not account for the possible role of gamification in copycat violence.

Video Games and Gamification

• The nexus of gamification, mass violence, and terrorism has become a growing subject of interest.
• Elements explored include:
  • Needs and desires of gamers
  • Gamified memes and communications on social media and online forums
  • Modification of popular video games to incorporate extremist content
  • Top-down use of gamification by terrorist organizations as a recruitment tool
  • Bottom-up gamification of attacks by lone actors
• The last of these foci is perhaps the least understood.
• The U.S. Secret Service found that some attackers had unhealthy fixations such as “obsessively playing video games” and used online platforms “to share violent rhetoric and ideas.”
• The 2020 Springfield, Missouri shooter “used gaming platforms to try to radicalize others” before killing four people at a convenience store.
• Only a handful of gamified attacks have been identified and closely analyzed.
• Suraj Lakhani and Susann Wiedlitzka’s case study of the 2019 Christchurch shooting stands out, but it focused primarily on BT.
• Daniel Koehler and colleagues analyzed children radicalized on gaming platforms who plotted terrorist attacks that were successfully prevented.
• "Empirically driven analyses of actual far-right (violent) extremist radicalization cases connected to online gaming contexts are exceptionally rare."

Key Elements of Gamified Attacks

• Creation of a manifesto to clearly establish a storyline and justification for the perpetrator.
• Recording an attack from the attacker’s perspective, similar to a first-person shooter video game (livestreaming).
• A system of scoring or points, with a leaderboard to rank and compare the success of “players.”
• Fatality counts in attacks are referred to as “scores,” as the actor desires to accomplish “achievements” or high kill counts.
• Weapons, because weapon choice corresponds to firepower and chances of victory.
• Strategic advice about tactics, targets, or weapons, similar to advice video game players give each other, which increases the likelihood of mission success.

Limitations of Copycat Effects and Gamification Explanations

• Copycat effects and gamification do not provide a complete explanation for participation in mass violence on their own.
• Many millions of people see high-profile mass shooters on the news and play first-person shooter video games, yet only a tiny fraction commit a mass attack.
• For people already on the fringes of society or at-risk, dangerous role models or gamified mass violence may affect their decision to attack, the shape of their attack, or both.
• The social aspects of gamification—and online gaming communities and forums—may be an important factor that attracts some vulnerable individuals.
• Terrorist groups target socially isolated recruits because they can be indoctrinated without interference.
• Social isolation may contribute to the radicalization of mass shooters and lone actor terrorists.
• Isolation reduces exposure to moderate people and ideas, exacerbates loneliness and life dissatisfaction, diminishes empathy, and leads to disconnection from reality.
• The online world can be extremely attractive for individuals who are isolated but eager for social relationships, recognition, or a sense of significance.
• Online gaming helps loners find friends and bond by teaming up on missions with shared goals and achievements.
• Conversations among young men while gaming anonymously can quickly escalate to extreme topics.
• If BT and copycats were seeking friends, social bonding, or social affirmation through gaming and mass violence, scholars and security officials must understand this.

Present Study

• The study aimed to learn more about how gamification can lead vulnerable individuals to commit mass violence.
• An empirical and evidence-based approach was used, studying:
  • Basic characteristics of each perpetrator and attack (demographics, ideology, attack context, and outcome)
  • Perpetrators’ social lives in the physical world
  • Video game influences on their radicalization and attack
  • Ways they appeared to engage in gamification
• Potential differences between these attackers and typical video game players were also investigated.
• An exploratory approach was taken without formal hypothesis testing.

Data Collection

• The study relied on open-source data (publicly available information).
• Official investigation reports, government documents, court records, and news reports were consulted.
• Primary source documents, such as perpetrators’ manifestos, notes, and videos, were also used.
• Prior research studying these perpetrators was consulted.
• One main source was the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Christchurch attacks (792-page report).
• Source reliability was the paramount consideration.
• Data came from scholarly and practitioner publications, official investigation reports, or primary source communications.
• News reports were used only for information directly from law enforcement or government authorities.
• More recent information that had time to be vetted and verified was prioritized.
• Most data was supported by multiple sources.
• Perpetrators’ statements were considered self-serving or inaccurate and avoided being taken at face value.
• Seven copycat attackers were identified based on direct influence from BT.

Identified Copycat Attackers

• JE = the 2019 Poway, California synagogue shooter
• PC = the 2019 El Paso, Texas Walmart shooter
• PM = the 2019 Bærum, Norway mosque shooter
• SB = the 2019 Halle, Germany synagogue shooter
• PG = the 2022 Buffalo, New York supermarket shooter
• ALA = the 2022 Colorado Springs, Colorado nightclub shooter
• JK = the 2022 Bratislava, Slovakia bar shooter
• All seven directly cited BT as inspiration and/or displayed interest in his manifesto or attack video.
• A student who stabbed a peer in Eslöv, Sweden in 2021, and there have been multiple failed plotters, but we did not include them in our analysis.
• Data was collected on demographics, ideology, attack context, attack outcome, social lives, video game influences, and possible gamification of attacks.
• Gamification factors: manifesto, strategic advice, livestreaming, weapons, and number of victims.
• Representative information on gamers came from the Entertainment Software Association’s (ESA) report on video game players in the United States.
• The ESA report was used for demographic data and information on the social aspects of gaming.
• The U.S. was chosen as the comparison as most mass shooters attack in the United States, and more than half of BT’s copycats were American.
• A perfect comparison is not possible.

Findings: Similarities

• Many similarities existed between BT and the seven copycat attackers.
• At the time of his attack, BT was a 28-year-old white man, and all seven copycats were also young white men his age or younger (age range = 18-28).
• They all embraced far-right ideologies and targeted ideologically salient locations with a hate-crime element (mosque/Islamic center, synagogues, LGBT nightclubs/bars, or supermarkets/stores selected because most customers were Hispanic or Black).
• BT was arrested following his attack, and all but one of the copycats were arrested following their attacks.
• All seven copycats attacked within a few years of the Christchurch shooting.
• BT attacked in New Zealand, while his copycats all struck in the United States or Europe.

Attacker Social Lives

• Perpetrators seemed profoundly socially isolated in the physical world.
• Adverse childhood experiences, mental health problems, personality disorders, or other personal struggles may have reduced their ability to have comfortable interactions with other people.
• Psychological and personal issues are relatively common among both mass shooters and lone actor terrorists.
• BT admitted “he had suffered from social anxiety since childhood and found socialising with others stressful”.
• PC was described as “very much a loner, very standoffish” and as someone who “didn’t interact a whole lot”.
• SB was described by his mother as socially isolated.
• ALA only appeared to have one close friend (a neighbor) and that friendship had broken off.
• JK described himself as “never popular” and as “a hermit”.
• PG wrote that people “make me feel so uncomfortable I’ve probably spent actual years of my life just being online…And to be honest I regret it. I didn’t go to friend’s houses often or go to any parties or whatever. Every day after school I would just go home and play games and watch youtube, mostly by myself.”
• BT explicitly suggested in his manifesto that a direct link exists between social isolation and radicalization.
• He explained that people “isolate themselves… and look for allies anywhere they can find them, in the flesh or online…. Somehow this isolation then radicalization is seen as a surprise, yet for anyone who was paying attention, it was a long time coming.”
• There was no evidence that any of these attackers had a serious romantic relationship.
• SB specifically complained about “his lack of intimate partnerships” and blamed it on society.

Video Game Influences on Radicalization and Attacks

• BT served as a role model for all the copycats, but some also shared BT’s role models or copied each other.
• BT started playing first-person shooter games as a young child and was believed to have a “severe addiction” to video games according to a relative.
• Most of BT’s social interactions were with other gamers he only knew from a distance.
• He stated that Spyro: Year of the Dragon “taught me ethnonationalism” and “Fortnite trained me to be a killer and to floss on the corpses of my enemies.”
• BT also played music throughout his attack, which is common in first-person shooter video games.
• The video from the second part of BT’s attack resembles Grand Theft Auto (GTA): reckless driving, drive-by shooting of pedestrians, and attempts to shoot drivers of other cars.
• All seven copycats made references to video games, used websites or services popular among gamers, or made gamified comments, and direct evidence of video game playing was found for many.
• JE wrote, “It is so easy to log on to [the game] Minecraft and get away with burning a synagogue (or mosque) to the ground if you’re smart about it,” although that was a veiled reference to real violence.
• He also made multiple comments about getting a “high score” in his real attack by killing many victims; referenced people in the gaming subculture (“PewDiePie”); posted to the message board 8chan, and was urged by an 8chan user to “get a high score.”
• PC offered a gamified mass shooting strategy in his manifesto: “Don’t attack heavily guarded areas to fulfill your super soldier COD [Call of Duty] fantasy.”
• SB made numerous references to video games, including “techno-barbarism” from Warhammer 40,000, “Anon,” “weeb,” and “waifus,” referenced “first-person shooters,” and described his real attack goals as potential “achievements” like video game level-ups.
• PG was also a gamer: mentioned using Discord for the multiplayer survivalist game Rust.
• ALA appeared to dedicate his attack to the Se7en Sins Gaming Community by saying on an attack-related video, “Shout out to the professional seven sins”.
• ALA was also known to use “gay and racial slurs while gaming online,” which fits his attack against an LGBT nightclub.
• At age 11, JK apparently posted a video online with the comment, “playing minigame Death Tag at Mineplex server. Please subscribe! It has been so fun, I love knocking people off.”
• JK explicitly stated in his manifesto that watching BT’s attack video was a “video-game-like” experience.
• In a post immediately following his attack, JK used video game language to describe the low number of victims he killed: “wish I could have gone higher but whatever.”
• This is a direct reference to the gamification element of high vs. low “scores.”
• To defend his failure, he also posted that he “wanted to bag the prime minister but i didnt get lucky with his car arriving”, which seems to frame killing as an achievement in gamified terms.

Gamification of Attacks

• Like BT, five of the seven copycat attackers wrote manifestos, and five of seven live-streamed their attacks or planned to.
• Manifestos establish a storyline and justification for the game’s character (the perpetrator), and livestreaming makes the attack seem like a first-person shooter video game.
• BT and six of his copycats offered strategic advice about tactics, targets, or weapons.
• BT recommended “TATP packages strapped to drones, an EFP in a motorcycle saddle bags, convoy ambush rammings with cement trucks.”
• JE wrote, “If your goal is strictly carnage and the highest score—I’d highly recommend you look into flamethrowers…remember kids, napalm is more effective than gasoline.”
• PG suggested “I would recommend attempting to make armor-piercing ammunition” and “protip: don’t shoot a stranger’s reloads.”
• PC stated people should “Remember: it is not cowardly to pick low hanging fruit… Attack low security targets…If a target seems to [sic] hot, live to fight another day.”
• This sounds similar to video game advice.
• As examples of actual video game advice, PlayStation’s Call of Duty webpage says, “You never want to feel like you’re playing at a disadvantage, so wipe out the enemy, secure their objective, take different routes, or switch loadouts to throw them off their rhythm. Maintaining momentum is crucial for high scores.”
• Similarly, the Imagine Game Network’s (IGN) advice on Grand Theft Auto recommends, “When you’re stocking up on weapons for a heavy firefight, a sub-machine gun is a necessity. It’s versatile, easy to grab and, with a decent weapon skill, will do a ton of damage.”
• In turn, a beginner’s guide to Fortnite states, “In combat, always aim for the head for maximum damage…Don’t stand still while shooting; move and jump to make yourself a harder target. And remember, sometimes it’s smarter to disengage and live to fight another day.”
• Regarding their weapons, BT appeared to have the largest arsenal, which included two semi-automatic rifles, two other rifles, and two shotguns, and he shot the most victims.
• Other copycats also used semi-automatic rifles.
• In terms of the perpetrators’ victims (which some consider “scores”), BT killed more than all seven copycats combined.

Comparison with Typical Video Game Players

• Typical video game players are older on average, more racially diverse, and more evenly split between male and female.
• Just over half of video game players regularly play “shooter” games.
• BT and the seven copycat attackers also seemed more likely to play video games to fill social needs than the typical video game player.
• Many perpetrators wanted to join a community of online players, regularly played with “friends” they knew only online, and “met” people (virtually) through playing video games whom they otherwise would not have met.
• Only 19% of U.S. gamers say they want to join an online community of gamers, and less than half report regularly playing with online-only friends or meeting people they would not have met anyway.
• The majority of video game players in the United States regularly play with people they already know from the physical world (typically friends, but also spouse/significant others, siblings, or other relatives), this seemed far less common for BT and the seven copycat attackers.

Discussion

• An in-depth study of BT and seven copycat attackers was conducted to learn more about how gamification can lead some vulnerable individuals to commit mass violence.
• The study gathered empirical evidence on: basic characteristics, social lives, video game influences, engagement in gamification, and comparison to typical video game players.
• The aim was to generate better understandings of their psychology and behavior.

Social Isolation as a Driver of Gaming-Related Radicalization

• There is no single factor that explains why some individuals become radicalized.
• Social isolation emerged as tremendously influential.
• Almost all perpetrators were socially isolated in the physical world, leaving the online world as their best and sometimes only option for meeting their social needs.
• BT's desire for “allies” could be understood as a desire for close friends.
• The data suggest most people who play video games are not socially isolated, not seeking an online community, and not eager to make new “friends” they will never meet face-to-face.
• People with healthier social lives maintain a balance that seemed noticeably absent for BT and the copycat attackers.
• Most video game players have social interactions in the physical world that help moderate any extremist ideas they might be exposed to online.
• As the official investigation into the Christchurch shooter concluded, “Without a job, he had no need to associate with people in workplaces…This meant that his self-described introversion was not mitigated by the usual daily interactions that most people experience in their regular lives. Accordingly, there was limited opportunity for the hard edges of his political thinking to be softened by regular and lasting connections with people with different views.”
• It is impossible to quantify exactly how much time spent online vs. interacting in the physical world, but it’s suspected it is significant.
• He lamented that "If I could go back maybe I’d tell myself to get the fuck off 4chan … and get an actual life.”
• Neither BT nor any of his copycats had a spouse or significant other when they attacked, and the except one, had previously experienced a serious romantic relationship.
• Prior research has found that sexual frustration problems are common among a subset of mass shooters.
• These perpetrators’ failure to maintain healthy social lives fits with broader psychological research showing that online social lives aren't sufficient for people’s needs.

Mass Violence Occurs After Gaming and Online Extremism Fail to Satiate

• Although video games and forums popular among gamers (e.g. 8chan, 4chan, Endchan, Twitch, and Discord) influenced the radicalization of the attackers we studied here, it is important to emphasize an unexpected finding that, in retrospect, makes perfect sense: Online extremism failed to satiate them.
• The conclusion is not simply that these perpetrators loved video games or online extremism forums—it is that they loved them for a while, but ultimately were not fulfilled by them—which is why they turned to violence.
• This seems essential to understanding their psychology and behavior.
• As PG wrote about many people being “very dissatisfied with their life” because of the boring routines they succumb to—and he explicitly cited video games (along with movies and TV) as part of the problem, rather than solution.
• The other perpetrators must have felt similarly, because at a certain point they stopped posting and committed violent attacks.
• Multiple attackers made distinctions between their online lives and what they considered the “real” or “actual” world.
• By the end, these perpetrators recognized the limits of the online world—where they remained largely unknown and unimpactful—and they were no longer satisfied by it.
• Online extremism seems like an important difference between the eight perpetrators and the much larger group of people who share their extreme views but do not commit violent attacks.
• Prior research suggests radical beliefs aren't predictive of radical actions, and most individuals who are highly active on extremist forums are unlikely to strike in the physical world.
• Most participants in online extremist communities seem satisfied with posting about their anger or lashing out at their enemies in the digital realm.

Gamification and the Increased Risk of Copycat Attacks

• To date, there is no clear, empirical explanation for why some mass shooters and terrorists are especially likely to be copied.
• Some of the deadliest mass shooters who received the most attention do not appear to have spawned a large number of copycats.
• Leaving behind a manifesto or making online posts are also no guarantee of emulation: many previous attackers have created legacy tokens with grievances shared by millions, but no one has cited them as a role model and committed copycat attacks.
• Gamification may help explain why he has been copied so frequently within just a few years.
• By essentially creating a global online advertisement for mass violence as a first-person shooter video game—complete with music, player storyline (manifesto), strategic advice, video (livestream), arsenal (weapons), and a scoreboard (victim fatalities)—BT may have expanded the commercial successes of games to a smaller subculture of at-risk individuals.
• Some have enjoyed playing video game re-enactments of his crimes or playing other games with BT as their character, and at least seven have participated by committing attacks of their own.
• Strategies to combat gamification are needed.
• There should be continued investment in online approaches to prevent and counter violent extremism (P/CVE), such as using role-playing video games to improve empathy and using game-based inoculation to combat misinformation.
• Within online gaming contexts, there may also be creative ways to direct potentially vulnerable individuals towards new gaming friends.
• Video messaging, AI companions, or other technologies could be enhanced to better meet the social needs of those who need extra help.

Limitations

• It is impossible to know every way that BT or the copycats may have engaged in gamification, which would require mind-reading.
• The study did not analyze everyone who copied BT—such as failed plotters or the student who stabbed a peer in Sweden.
• The comparison to the typical video game player drew information from the ESA’s report on gamers in the United States, which does not provide a perfect comparison group.
• It is possible that more copycats of BT will emerge in the future who differ from those studied here.

Conclusion

• A close analysis of the 2019 Christchurch shooter (BT) and seven copycats to learn more about how gamification can lead certain vulnerable individuals to commit mass violence was performed.
• Although BT and the copycats who followed him were not identical, they had many similarities.
• Overall, perpetrators’ social needs appeared to be a major driving factor on their pathway to violence, but their attacks did not occur until after gaming and online extremism failed to satiate them.
• It is important to increase public awareness of that this threat
• Help is needed from anyone who observes evidence of suspicious activity that might be associated with an impending attack.
• If we can disseminate recent findings from prior work and the present study on video game influence, online forums, and gamification, then parents, teachers, caretakers, tech companies, law enforcement officers, and other members of the public will be better equipped to assist with attack prevention.
• That could be the difference between life and death.