A new lawsuit has been filed against major gaming companies, including Roblox, Microsoft, and Epic Games. The complaint alleges that the companies encouraged an 18-year-old to develop an addiction to Roblox, Fortnite, and Minecraft. 

The plaintiff is Jordan Duncan, a resident of Michigan. He says that he began playing Roblox and Minecraft at age nine, and Fortnite at age eleven. Since then, he “has used and/or continues to use video games at an increasing, compulsive, and/or addictive pace,” states the complaint. 

It goes on to allege that the companies targeted Duncan when he was a minor to make frequent in-game purchases, causing financial losses. The design of the games has also led to “severe emotional distress, diminished social interaction, lack of interest in hobbies, academic decline, withdrawal symptoms, impacted sleep, and an inability to stop gaming, among other injuries.”

He plays video games for 12-14 hours a day and “he is incapable of restraining his own usage, as are the people around him,” according to the lawsuit. 

Attempts to get him to stop playing are “met with severe withdrawal symptoms including anger, injurious behavior to themself and others, threats of self-harm, property damage, and refusal to maintain hygiene or sleep,” says the complaint.

“Not a war on fun”

The filing notes, “This litigation is not a war on fun. Nor does it seek to curtail the creation and enjoyment of entertaining video games.”

But, it seeks compensation for the damages Duncan has suffered as a result of the video game companies’ marketing their products to minors, including addictive game-playing features, and encouraging in-game purchases. 

Valve is also facing a series of legal challenges over the design of its games. New York’s Attorney General and individual users are suing the company for the use of loot boxes in its games. The complaints allege the company is encourging minors to gamble. 

Social media victory threatens gaming industry

The lawsuit alleges that Roblox, Fortnite, and Minecraft are defective products that encourage users to become addicted. There have been similar accusations leveled at the companies in the past. 

It is not far from the argument used in the recent lawsuit against Meta and Google. In that case, a jury awarded damages of $6 million to a 20-year-old who claimed to have become addicted to social media apps, including Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. 

The landmark payout could encourage a host of lawsuits against gaming and gambling companies. DraftKings and FanDuel are also facing new complaints, with users alleging the betting operators are purposefully encouraging addictive behavior. 

The social media verdict could also result in a wide sweeping ban on the platforms in several more countries. Australia has already banned under-16s from accessing the apps. A ban in the US, the UK, and other nations could severely limit gamers’ ability to interact with and engage with games. 

The complaint concludes by stating that Epic, Microsoft, and Roblox’s actions “were intentional, oppressive, malicious, reckless, wanton, fraudulent, beyond all standards of decency, and without regard for human life.”

A judge in the Northern District of California will be the judge of that.