Video Game Addiction Litigation

Publish Date : 09/17/2024

Video game addiction falls into the category of Internet gaming disorders (IGDs), which have been strongly correlated with motivational control issues and are regularly compared with gambling. Evidence has shown addiction can cause changes in some areas of the brain. Problems can arise when youthful gamers become dependent upon the personalities they create in online games – blurring the line between reality and the game. Video game addiction may have both short and long-term impacts on gamers, including various emotional, physical, psychological, and neurological effects. A few studies have demonstrated anxiety and depression are common among individuals dependent on video games. In the new generation of children, physical activity time is less and shorter in duration when compared with the parent’s generation because children’s activities moved toward indoor more than outdoor play. There is a negative relationship between the time spent on online gaming and exercise and that leads to a sedentary lifestyle which is a risk factor for many medical health conditions such as obesity, diabetes, and coronary artery disease. According to the American Medical Association, approximately 90% of young Americans play computer games. Furthermore, 15% of these gamers (i.e., over five million children) could be considered addicted.

However, lawyers and parents are taking on the video game industry. There are more than a dozen lawsuits currently active in North America seeking to address injuries and damage from video game addiction. Most argue the targeted video game companies, including Activision Blizzard, Epic Games, Microsoft, Roblox, Nintendo, Take-Two Interactive Software, and Sony Interactive Entertainment, make their games purposefully addictive as a way to keep people playing, and, ultimately, to get them to spend lots of money.