Games like the gamechangers

The Gamechangers is a British docudrama produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the story of the controversy caused by Grand Theft Auto, a video game series by Rockstar Games, as various attempts were made to halt the production of the games. Directed by Owen Harris and written by James Wood, the film centres on the legal feud between Rockstar Games president Sam Houser (Daniel Radcliffe) and controversial attorney Jack Thompson (Bill Paxton) over Rockstar's popular video game series Grand Theft Auto, and the debate regarding the psychological effects of violent video games.

On the 27th October 2002, the New York-based British gaming company Rockstar Games releases Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, which immediately shatters sales records, with 1 million units sold within 24 hours, and is universally acclaimed for its authenticity, scale and gameplay. Inspired by the success of the game, heads of Rockstar, Sam and Dan Houser immediately begin planning another, even larger and more elaborate game, this time based on the gang wars of South Central Los Angeles. The following June, however, 17-year old Devin Moore - a persistent player of the game - shoots dead several police personnel in a police station in Fayette, Alabama and steals a police car. His case catches the eye of conservative Florida-based attorney Jack Thompson, who, upon questioning Moore in prison and playing the game for himself, theorises that the game's violent content and alleged glamorisation of criminal activity may have been the primary cause for his rampage. He gathers together some expert analysis of the effects of violent images on human brains and the use of violent video games in the military, and files a lawsuit against Rockstar Games and its publisher, Take-Two Interactive seeking damages on behalf of the families of the murdered personnel. This immediately earns him and his family the ire of the game's fans, who start vandalising their house and making threatening phone calls to their house phone.