DENVER, CO – A new study from the University of Denver has shown a strong link between adults who play the popular online role-playing game World of Warcraft and not having sexually transmitted diseases (STDs, sometimes called STIs).
The study was done by the Clinical Epidemiology department of the university with funding provided by Blizzard, the makers of the game. The inclusion criteria for the study subjects were males or females between 21 and 44, are or wish to be sexually active, and play World of Warcraft at least 3 hours a day. A total of 954,000 people enrolled in the study from 4 different countries.
We saw next to no sexually transmitted infections in any of the study participants,” said Dr. Jaina Proudmoore of Blizzard. “We found that the more one plays the game, the less sexual contact they have.”
The authors are also working on a regression equation to place an expected value on the odds of getting a sexually transmitted infection as it relates to unit increases in hours played and character level.
“Our preliminary calculations show that for every hour spent playing WoW, one’s chances of getting a sexually transmitted infection are reduced by 30%” explained Proudmoore. “For every hour spent talking to a member of the opposite sex who does not play the game, the odds of getting a sexually transmitted infection drop by a whopping 99%.”
