Philippines blocks GoreBox gaming app after school shooting kills three, injures 20

Philippine authorities have temporarily blocked the online gaming app GoreBox days after a rare school shooting in the south-east Asian nation killed three students and injured 20 others. Investigators said that of the two teenagers accused of opening fire on students at San Jose National high school in Tacloban city, one had regularly played the game, which allows players to use various weapons and depicts graphic violence. GoreBox is described on Google Play as allowing gamers to “Engage in brutal combat with an extensive arsenal of weapons and explosives, and witness the raw effects of realistic ragdoll physics and an intense gore system that brings dismemberment to life.” Launched in 2023 by F2 Games, GoreBox has more than 10m downloads on Google Play and carries an R18+ rating by the International Age Rating Coalition due to its depictions of extreme violence. The company did not immediately respond to questions from the Guardian. The Philippines’ cybercrime investigation and coordinating centre (CICC) said it had issued a temporary ban against the mobile gaming app as a precautionary measure pending investigation. “We cannot ignore possible online influences that may have contributed to this tragic incident,” said CICC undersecretary Aboy Paraiso. Temporarily blocking the game will allow authorities to assess whether the platform played any role in the actions of the suspects, he said. …