After castigating video games during riots, France’s Macron backpedals and showers them with praise

PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron is extending an olive branch to video gamers after previously linking computer games to rioting that rocked France earlier this year. Posting on the social media platform X, previously known as Twitter, Macron backpedaled on remarks in June where he blamed video games for having “intoxicated” some young rioters. Those comments dismayed some in the gaming community, even beyond France. Japanese game director Kastuhiro Harada was among Macron’s critics at the time. But the French leader’s latest comments struck an entirely different tone. In an unusually lengthy post this weekend on X, Macron issued a mea culpa to gamers and showered video games and the industry with praise.