Fans sue (or attempt to sue) video game companies all the time. Just this year a Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II fan sued remaster publisher Aspyr for not delivering its planned restored content DLC, but these situations are usually targeted at specific companies about an isolated issue. However, one family is attempting to sue several of the biggest publishers in the industry for fostering video game addiction and negatively affecting several aspects of their son’s life and health.
The complaint (spotted by Insider Gaming and GI.biz) comes from an Arkansas mother who accuses five companies, namely Activision Blizzard, Microsoft, Epic Games, Electronic Arts, and Ubisoft, and their subsidiaries of using “patented designs, algorithms and marketing containing addictive features and technology” to nurture addictive tendencies in minors in order to feed their “predatory” monetization methods. The complaint specifically accuses the companies of strict liability and negligence for not informing consumers of the potentially addictive design of their games while marketing them to young children and designing around encouraging spending on microtransactions.
The mother cites her own son’s gaming habits, which the complaint lists as playing “approximately 13 hours per day” of games like Fortnite, Call of Duty, Battlefield, and Rainbow Six as well as sneaking behind his parents’ backs to play further and spending money on microtransactions.
According to the suit, the Arkansas child has experienced “physical pain in their hands, elbow, and shoulders; increased weight and morbid obesity; diminished social interactions; a drop in their grades and inability to attend school; depression; a lack of interest in other sports/hobbies; a loss and/or lack of friends at school when able to attend; withdrawal symptoms such as rage, anger, and physical outbursts; loss of friends; and other emotional distress, mental anguish, pain and suffering” as a result of their video game addiction. All of this has resulted in the family having sought counseling, medication, and a personalized education plan including homeschooling for their son.
The family is seeking damages for their son’s physical injuries, as well as the various expenses they’ve had to spend in caring for him for all of the above. While some might have a kneejerk impulse to pin responsibility on the parents, there’s been extensive research on how video games can become addictive, and how that addiction’s impact can be similar to the mental loops people get into with gambling. There are clinics that treat those affected, and the World Health Organization even recognizes Gaming Disorder as a legitimate health concern.
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