Hey, Spoiler alert!!!

There, now you ruined it for me....  Let me get my gun, I'm coming over...

The main reason? They're fun and people like playing them.

There are secondary reasons and no, it's not about guns, it's about conflict, which is the core of video-games in general. There has to be a way to resolve conflict and defeat the enemy. That often involves projectiles of some sort, be it guns or some type of superhuman power. Many games which feature shooting as the primary method of resolving conflict also have other mechanisms, like the powers in BioShock Infinite or Borderlands.

Most games come down to either shooting something or hitting it directly. Mario kills enemies by jumping on them, Link kills them by slicing them with a sword. Games like Skyrim feature both ranged and melee combat.

Of course, it's also obvious that "shooter" isn't a genre. The Last of Us is a different type of game from Call of Duty, which is different from Fallout, which is different from The Order, which is different from Deus Ex, which is different from Mass Effect.

As far as diversity goes, the modern era has so much more variety than the age of platformers and beat 'em ups that it's not even funny.

And that's fine, if we are talking about real guns. 

In this case however the player is simply holding a controller pushing buttons and absolutely nothing is happening in real  life as consequence. No real weapons are ever involved. Hardly glorifying.

Also, I don't really want to go personal here, but the Bayonetta avatar sort of agrees with me. 

I don't take issue with violence and guns in video games. I play COD, Resident Evil, Bayonetta.

I'm just suggesting that maybe a portion of the FPS genre's popularity stems from those who do glorify the real thing.

They are some of the funnest games though. Where is my Duck Hunt U?

So you're suggesting that Super Mario is so wildly popular because it owes a portion of its popularity to the people who like jumping on turtles?

Never understood the obsession with guns either. It's one of the reasons why I study history, ancient history to be more precise. War was much more interesting without guns and bombs. 

I prefer games that take place in the past, a fantasy world or the future (or a combination of these categories). I don't mind energy blasters like in Metroid, I like the futuristic power-ups because it's fictional and creative (if done right). Plus the main focus of a game like Metroid isn't about shooting. 

Um, they already made that game. Haven't you heard of Doki Doki Maho Shimpan, or Akiba'sTrip?

I have no doubt gun nuts (who do glorify guns) play COD style games and are part of the millions. But to consider them as the reason for the sudden boom in the shooting genre is just far fetched. 

You don't need to glorify guns to really like shooting games. In fact the overwhelming majority of players don't. 

And this comes from someone that gets turned off by FPS. 

Game industry or game consumers?