Lawyers and parents are taking on the video game industry. There are currently eight lawsuits in North America attempting to address video game addiction. All lawsuits were filed within the past two years, and most people believe the video game companies targeted include Activision Blizzard, Epic Games, Microsoft, Roblox, Nintendo, Take-Two Interactive Software, and Sony Interactive Entertainment. They claim that their games are intentionally addictive. It's a way to get people to keep playing and ultimately spend a lot of money.
“These video games are purposefully designed with the help of Dr. Behavioral psychologists and neuroscientists who believe that minors and young adults play games longer, spend hundreds of dollars on games, and more. In some cases, we encourage people to spend thousands of dollars,” wrote representatives from the Atlanta-based law firm Brock Ward Mason, which was involved in six of the eight lawsuits. Its website. “Defendants use gaming tactics such as reward systems, along with patented designs that include addictive features and technology, to ensure that users continue to play longer and spend more money. Most parents don't understand what's going on in their homes because their children are being manipulated and targeted by multi-billion dollar corporations.
Three lawsuits have been filed in Arkansas, two in Illinois, and one each in Missouri, Florida, and Washington. Most were filed by parents concerned about their children's alleged video game addictions and how this was leading to failure at school and elsewhere. For example, one lawsuit said a 13-year-old boy's video game addiction caused physical pain, obesity and “rage,” and a 21-year-old boy claimed he dropped out of high school because of video games. There is.
There is also a Missouri lawsuit filed by a 24-year-old woman named Harper Glasscock. She is addicted to video games and claims that the games have caused her “brain damage, cognitive impairment, loss of employment opportunities, unemployment, and depression.” , anxiety, and withdrawal symptoms.” According to her lawyer, the games she's into are primarily published by her Activision Blizzard. Call of Duty Modern Warfare, world of warcraftand overwatch. This lawsuit, like others, calls video game practices such as microtransactions, reward systems, and loot boxes as predatory, but it also calls video game companies predatory, such as “whales,” i.e. They accuse it of having a specialized department dedicated to building relationships with the people who spend their money. Video games — to ensure you keep playing. Glasscock's attorneys are also seeking neurological studies to support their addiction claims.
Activision Blizzard and the other companies involved are seeking to have these lawsuits dismissed. Companies like Microsoft and Epic Games have forced courts to dismiss their cases because they have agreed to arbitration rules that prohibit players from taking matters to court, opting instead for arbitration hearings. The companies confirm in court documents that they retrieved player accounts and clicked “I accept” the terms of service multiple times. Other arguments include freedom of speech (video game content such as loot boxes is subject to First Amendment protection) and dismissal of product liability claims because games are not products. says the lawyer.
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Image: Epic Games
They also found several inconsistencies in the filings. In the case of Arkansas parent Casey Dunn, Microsoft discovered that the player was using an Xbox One rather than the listed Xbox Series X. In his one case in Illinois, Epic Games found only one account associated with a child who played only two games. fortnitewhich, like the first, was created days before the lawsuit was filed. Report by Stephen Totillo. (The plaintiff later told Epic Games that the child may have played on the accounts of his estranged father and friends.)
Several plaintiffs are considering consolidating their lawsuits into one large multidistrict lawsuit, and a hearing to decide whether to do so is scheduled for May 30 in Salt Lake City. Polygon has reached out to Bullock Ward Mason, Activision Blizzard, Take-Two, Roblox, and Epic Games for comment. We will update this story once we hear back from them.
Attorney Stephen MacArthur of the MacArthur Law Firm told Polygon that consolidating the cases would simplify things logistically. “Plaintiffs' lawyers are suing dozens of video game companies in various states, and consolidating all cases into one court and one judge would be an extremely difficult task with limited resources. “At the same time, it will be much easier to prosecute causes of action against many defendants,” MacArthur said.
Video game companies oppose consolidation of these cases for several reasons, including that there are not enough cases to justify it. The companies also argued that the lawsuits are not broad enough to simply cover “video game addiction,” and that courts must consider each case's personal information individually, including various diagnoses, games, and types of companies involved. It is claimed that there is. Given the possibility of consolidation, the plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial, but MacArthur said he does not expect them to prevail.
“Defendant video game companies take these lawsuits extremely seriously and can and will mount strong defenses,” MacArthur said. “I don't think the plaintiffs will prevail at trial. My suspicion is that they are trying to take advantage of a large settlement based on defense costs.”
Case law for video game addiction lawsuits has not yet been established, and most previous lawsuits against studios and publishers related to violent or addictive games have been dismissed. In one case, a man sued NCSoft Corp. over drug addiction. lineage 2 In 2009, a judge defeated the user agreement argument when denying part of the company's motion to dismiss (the man couldn't sue for fraud, but could sue for negligence). . This was a major victory, as at the time such lawsuits rarely got past the signed user agreement argument. However, the case was settled and dismissed in 2011 and did not proceed to a jury trial. Social media companies have faced similar addiction and personal injury lawsuits, one of which took the multidistrict litigation route. The case is ongoing and no trial date has been set.
Obviously this is not a problem that will be solved. Addiction lawsuits are at an all-time high, and Brock Ward Mason is recruiting for more on its website. It remains to be seen whether they will have merit or whether the plaintiffs will be allowed to sue.
