Fortnite facing lawsuit for being “addictive”

A Canadian law firm is threatening Epic Games

This can be filed in the “absurd lawsuit” pile. A law firm out of Montreal has filed a class-action lawsuit against Epic Games because, according to the lawyers, the video game company didn’t warn users that the game could be addictive. The law firm likens video game addiction to that of tobacco addiction.

The lawsuit was submitted on behalf of two parents who obviously don’t understand the concept of parental responsibility. They argue that their children play Fortnite extensively, adding that the game has characteristics similar to that of cocaine, in that it releases dopamine into children’s minds. If they thought their children were being affected, the common sense choice would have been to monitor their gaming activity.

The lawyers, who are probably of the same class as ambulance chasers, argue that Fortnite should be legally classified as addictive and assert that Epic hired psychologists with the sole purpose of making the game as habit-forming as possible. According to the lawyers, “Epic Games, when they created Fortnite, for years and years, hired psychologists — they really dug into the human brain and they really made the effort to make it as addictive as possible. They knowingly put on the market a very, very addictive game which was also geared toward youth.”

They’re backing their claim up by a report by the National Health Service out of the UK that declared gaming addiction was a genuine medical disorder. However, the parents have already acknowledged that they didn’t do a proper job monitoring their children. It seems to be more a case of parents trying to shirk their responsibilities than a legitimate claim over established hazards related to a particular activity.