Epic Games Accused of Creating Addictive “Fortnite” Game
The game is “addictive as cocaine”
Fortnite from Epic Games is one of the most talked-about games that have hooked kids and adults from all over the world. It’s exciting, it’s challenging, and it’s fun. But, like most popular things, the game has garnered some criticism too. If the disapproval of Prince Harry wasn’t enough, a new challenge has come up too. A group of Canadian parents have filed a lawsuit against it and claimed that the game is “as addictive as cocaine.”
This lawsuit could be a big blow for the reputation of Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite. It has been filed by Montreal’s Calex Légal law firm on behalf of two parents. According to reports, the lawsuit claims that Fortnite causes the brain to release dopamine at a rate that’s similar to cocaine, which often leads to chemical addiction. The parents and their legal team have a belief that Epic Games is responsible for this bad addiction as they created Fortnite to be as addictive as they could manage.
An attorney Alessandra Esposito Chartrand, representing Calex Légal, said “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.”
Calex Légal alleges that Epic Games knew that Fortnite was addictive, and the company should have done more to make consumers aware of the possible side effects or the fact that playing it could potentially lead to a medical condition.
It is a good time for Calex Légal to build a case against Epic Games as The World Health Organization recently added “Gaming Disorder” to the International Classification of Diseases.
Chartrand said, “In our case, the two parents that came forward and told [us], ‘If we knew it was so addictive it would ruin our child’s life, we would never have let them start playing Fortnite or we would have monitored it a lot more closely.”
Though it’s not clear what the parents are hoping from Epic Games, it’s probable that they are after a large figure.
This is not the first time Epic Games has been targeted by lawyers. In June, a federal case happened in California that alleged in part that Fortnite didn’t have the built-in parental controls that might have helped parents and guardians to make decisions regarding in-app purchases. It also mentioned that minors who change their minds after a purchase weren’t allowed to get a refund.
Epic Games didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. But it is assured that they would not let the lawsuit harm the reputation of the game that had more than 250 million users worldwide in March!
