The Mexican government has enacted new taxes as part of an economic package, including one for “violent video games.” However, a week before it was supposed to go into effect, the tax was repealed as it would simply have been unenforceable, explained the president.
What was that tax? Originally, Mexico planned an 8% tax on “violent games,” which was set to take effect on January 1, 2026. The idea was compared to “sin taxes” on certain luxury goods such as tobacco and soft drinks.
With this, Mexico is already the second country fighting against violence in video games, following Brazil, which had previously debated killer games. The international law firm Baker McKenzie briefly explains the tax as follows:
“The general sale of video games that contain violent, extreme, or adult content and are not suitable for persons under 18 years of age, as well as all commissions for digital services that provide access to such games or offer downloads […] shall fall under the IEPS at a rate of 8%.”
Why was the tax repealed? The Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum Pedro stated in a press conference (via GameReactor) that it is very difficult to “distinguish between video games that involve violence and those that do not.”
The bill faced problems earlier because services like Xbox Game Pass and PS Plus would need special regulations here. The president explained that the law had too many complications – so it would be completely scrapped, and instead, a culture of peace would be promoted.
The irrational fear of games is ancient:
“It’s almost 2026 and people still think that”
Critics had already expressed their thoughts about the idea earlier. After all, no one has become a criminal through The Last of Us, claimed the opposition (via GameReactor). On Reddit, there is often skepticism about the idea itself.
Already studies from 2020 attest a positive influence of video games contrary to the opinion that they incite violence. One user mocks: “It’s almost 2026 and people still think that video games encourage violence in real life.”
Others chime in: Even if you could travel back to the year 5025 with a time machine, you’d still find people in the nuclear wasteland who would believe such things.
Although the “killer game” debate is already very old, only in 2021 did a US politician attempt to directly ban all video games, apparently without success.
However, the entire discussion seems to simply not cease despite constantly new studies. Not only in the USA and the American continent is violence in video games being discussed, but also here in Europe and even in Germany: Journalist revives the killer game debate in 2023: “Young men sit in front of these games and hunt others”
