A gamer has ignited a debate after a video of him playing a violent game with his daughter went viral.
Richard Hammer is a verified gamer on the video streaming site Twitch, where he’s had more than eight million views, and was playing PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds when he was taken by surprise by someone lying behind an obstacle. So far, so normal.
But the exchange that followed between Richard and his daughter Alice, four, caused a lot of laughter as Richard showed his “great dad reflexes”.
Richard_Hammer has great dad reflexesRichard_Hammer has great dad reflexes – Clipped by Raslad
That was some quick thinking.
But what got people talking was, why was Richard so concerned about swearing in front of his daughter if he was happy to play a bloody and violent game in front of her?
“I do understand the debate absolutely and I do think a line exists,” Richard, from Michigan, said.
“For the most part I do believe my daughter understands the difference between video game fiction and reality. I also did tell her I was playing paintball… however nobody commenting on the clip knew that.”
The debate over which is worse my daughter hearing me swear or her seeing violence in a video game has been really fun to follow.
— Richard Hammer (@RichardHammerTV) July 20, 2017
Alice has only featured in a “handful” of Richard’s streams, and was sat in on that one for around 20 or 30 minutes, he said.
“I think the reason censoring my words and my actions is important is because she is far more likely to imitate me than digital entertainment.
“While I was frantically trying not to die she was noticing that the guy wasn’t wearing shoes.”
He added: “If the game I was planning to play would have had exploding heads and bits of body parts flying around I would not have had my daughter on that stream.”