Can’t seem to put Diablo or Call of Duty down? For some, it’s just a matter of shutting that gaming PC or Xbox off, while for others, it’s a signal to lawyer up.
As uncovered by Insider Gaming, a number of today’s biggest gaming companies, including Microsoft and Activision Blizzard, are being sued by members of the Dunn family (no, not that guy) under the allegation that they intentionally design video games to be super addicting, and use various means to do so.
According to the 128-page complaint, which was filed on Devil’s Night and also lists Epic Games, EA, and Ubisoft as defendants, such methods would include feedback loops and reward systems, “addictive features and technology” that ensure players are not only playing longer, but encouraged to spend more of their money on microtransactions.
The complaint also alleges that these gaming companies have gone so far as to hire psychologists and neuroscientists to help them develop new games for the sake of making them “as addictive as possible.”
Here are some choice quotes from Casey Dunn, one of the plaintiffs, who believe video games are “destroying” her son’s life:
We never imagined when our son started playing video games that he would become so addicted that his education would severely suffer, he would lose all interest in spending time with his friends, and his physical and mental health would be at risk.
These video game companies have targeted and taken advantage of kids, prioritizing their profit over all else. As a mom, I knew I had to do something to ensure they don’t get away with destroying the wellbeing and futures of our children.
And here’s what the family’s attorney, Tina Bullock, had to say:
Gaming addiction is a serious, life-altering disorder that is stealing children’s lives and disrupting families across the country. Parents like me often mistakenly think it is a failure on their part when their child becomes addicted, but through this litigation we hope to shine a light on these companies’ reprehensible actions, deceit, and manipulation of our children for their own financial gain.
The plaintiffs are suing not only for monetary recovery and mental health resources for affected families, but they are also seeking a change to how games are made and marketed.
This lawsuit is reportedly only the “first of many to be filed in the coming weeks.”
Discussion (4 replies)
Join Discussion →This is as bad as blaming gun violence on video games.
LOL @ "Gaming Addiction".
"We never imagined when our son started playing video games that he would become so addicted that his education would severely suffer, he would lose all interest in spending time with his friends, and his physical and mental health would be at risk."
OK, so I started on 2600 then went to C64. I certainly understand the grades part, as playing games is more fun than doing homework. But my screen time was usually restricted until homework got done (and in some cases Mom would come in and just take the C64 away until I could prove I did everything I was supposed to). I don't get less interest in friends part, as we always wanted to talk about games and one-upping each other.
OTOH maybe it isn't fair to compare Oregon Trail / Ultima 3-4 / etc types of games to the murder simulators like CoD...... but if those had been out when I was a kid I probably would want to play them.
My mom, who was the one who got me into video games (starting with Atari 2600 and the arcade machines of the time), never believed in rubbish like "video game addiction" or "playing violent video games makes kids violent". She was also pretty strict, and wouldn't let me play video games Mon-Thurs (even though the ONE time she let me play video games whenever I wanted (so long as I finished my homework) was the ONLY time in my life I got straight As, which was when I was in 9th grade). As long as I kept my grades up, my parents didn't have a problem buying me video games and computer sh1t.
Video games helped me make a sh1tload of friends throughout my grade school (and college) years. In the schools that I went to, most of the guys in those schools played video games, regardless of what social cliques they belonged to. So I had friends spread out among multiple groups. Video games were like a universal language, and no one loved video games more than me. Everyone knew I was THE video game guy. So I got along with a f*ckton of homeys. I was always talking video games with someone, and games/demo discs/consoles/gaming magazines/PC hardware were always being traded/lent out/sold/copied among most of the guys in school. So if anything, video games improved my social skills and interactions. Shiat, video games are what got me to have social interactions to begin with. Video games didn't make me ignore my friends, it got me friends to begin with, and I was always excited to talk about awesome gaming shiznit with them.
My mom, like Professor Dr. Henry Jenkings at MIT, believed in all the mental, physical, psychological, emotional, etc. benefits that video games could provide to a person, and encouraged our use. My siblings and I were A and B students. What my mom believed is that a parent should be a f*cking parent, and be mindful of what activities their kids are getting into. My mom was always asking us about the games we were playing, and would watch us play (and before arthritis and 3D games, she also used to play with us). If she had any objections (she almost never did) then she wouldn't allow us to play, simple as that. If video games actually were addicting, there was no chance of that happening at my house, not under my mom's watchful eye. Know what your children are up to, and discipline them when necessary. I had friends whose parents took their consoles away and hid them. I had one friend whose dad tried everything from taking his mouse and/or keyboard to taking his monitor to removing parts from his PC. My question is, how did the mom in the article let her son get to the point where she wants to sue the game companies for getting her kid hooked some kind of "digital drug"? It sounds to me like the kid has issues that have nothing to do with video games.
My mom cut the power cord on my Nintendo when I refused to clean up my room once. And it infuriated her even more when I just fixed it and kept on playing.
Games never impacted my grades or work. That isn’t to say computers haven’t … just not games