I don't usually rain on people's parade but.... games has its own black and white though possibly even its grey area.
Games can offer things you can't expect from any forms of media.. like your son did, he had a blast with his friends and they get closer yet far physically that's awesome!
Put my case too, Games saved me from my depression, It sounds pathetic right? But not for me it gave me a reason to look forward on the future specifically it made me more aware on really cool technology and that is a part of the reason why i became an electronics engineer partly of the reason also is it is a very versatile course that can take me from a consumer electronics repairman to rocket scientist specializing in deep space electronics that doesn't fry or decay too quickly in space.
But then why did i say it has a black and white ethics? Simple for every person that inspires something like mine did they're is a person out there who play it on a hedonistic level, they play for the fun alone like drug addiction levels fun. Trust me i experienced it personally but it starts to change when i go further on playing mainstream games. What mainstream games you say? CSGO, DOTA 2, LOL, Rip-off PUBGs, Old FPS classics like the CrossFire if anyone knows it I played them all like everyone in the school did, i got addicted i still do right now but not in a way where it was last time like playing the same damn map, same damn hero or gun and doing it for who knows how many damn long i did like insanity is, they're some others who're insane enough that they become truly good at it (*cough* pro players) but they ain't us and then again people like them started as us though the only difference between them and us is they're dedicated, passionate and has talent on it which simply no one mostly has on themselves i know people who's so obssessive about it, it dragged their life down.
I'm sure they're more good things games can do, And i'm pretty sure games isn't entirely good after all i calculated all the hours i wasted on myself playing Koikatsu or Gal games and i got a whopping enough number of time to learn guns, self-defense or hell even basic programming or 3D modelling was it worth it? Possibly, I had fun on it.
In the end of the day, Myself alone is responsible whether my time is meaningful or not whether it is good or not is debatable that's why parents and friends are important....
Sadly due to me being overly attached on games since it inspired me, I got less and less social interaction to people even though my repertoire of knowledge expands and so to my favorite technical knowledge i'm still not a specialist myself i seriously lack behind on knowledge unlike the people on the community i am on. They have clear passion and dedication to it, I usually can't talk about it on a normal case by case basis i mean what does someone who have a hard on scifi and tech on people who usually talk about celebrities, basketball, mainstream music and people's business and an occassional slip of government politics (which they will backtrack btw if someone starts going too deep on it *e.g. Me) but then again social media exist and i don't particular feel like needing strong bonds, I'm fairly satisfied in forums and channels that encourage discussions (Perhaps my case too could be a detriment on games but all in all its from someone so it's their responsibility to take action on it)
Anyway this has been a very long rant or something, I already said my case hopefully someone reads this and realize something for the good or bad maybe...