Fortnite Sued: As addictive as Cocaine

[PiGHamM3R]

Epic Games sued for not warning parents that "Fortnite" is allegedly as addictive as cocaine.

 

 

Are video games as addictive as drugs? One parental unit in Montreal claims so, and says they have a study to back it up.

Quote

MONTREAL — A class action lawsuit has been filed by a Canadian law firm for parents who say their two children have an addiction to Fortnite, KRON reports.

The lawsuit makes the claim that Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite, “knowingly put on the market a very, very addictive game which was also geared toward youth.”

Source 1:

https://myfox8.com/2019/10/07/addictive-as-cocaine-parents-sue-fortnite-creators/

Source 2:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/talkingtech/2019/10/07/fortnite-producer-epic-games-lawsuit-says-addictive-as-cocaine/3900236002/

Quote

Written in French, the legal action alleges that when a person is engaged in "Fortnite" for a long period, the player’s brain releases the “pleasure hormone, dopamine” and that "Fortnite" was developed by psychologists, statisticians and others over four years “to develop the most addictive game possible,” all so Epic could reap lucrative profits. 

I really want to hear from Linus on this one, as a parent figure. If they're claiming it boosts Dopamine levels, wouldn't any type of "Social Media" also fall under this category? (eg; Like/Dislike/Love "Reaction" options)

[givingtnt]

@wkdpaul I feel shame for the both of us

[Andreas Lilja]

They're not sued yet, they need the permission from the Quebec Superior Court.

[mr moose]

Que in angry forumers who don't realize there is a very real possibility this case will succeed on the grounds that addiction does not have to be biological in it's causality but can be like gambling (an addiction based on reward structure) or can be thought of like fraud, where a con artists carefully entraps a person with certain rewards and hopes to attain a specific outcome.   Both are accepted as based on very real physiological conditions that can exploited without the targets conscious knowledge.   

 

I will be interested to see further input from professionals and would dearly like to hear Jordan peterson's take on it.

[John_Trollinski]

12 minutes ago, PiGHamM3R said:

alleges that when a person is engaged in "Fortnite" for a long period, the player’s brain releases the “pleasure hormone, dopamine” and that "Fortnite" was developed by psychologists, statisticians and others over four years “to develop the most addictive game possible

https://fortnite.gamepedia.com/Release_Timeline

Fortnite was first announced in 2011 and was officially released on July 2017 as Early Access phase.

It says here the game was announced in 2011 so it's been longer than 4 years. And I don't know if they are talking about 4 years after it came out because it's only been 2 years. This seems a little like Aw my child plays video game because I can't parent. Well it's not my fault it is the video game let me sue them for my bad parenting. This sounds like a Dr Phil episode or Jeremy Kyle show.

[Fasauceome]

22 minutes ago, PiGHamM3R said:

"Fortnite" was developed by psychologists

right, ok

[spartaman64]

my friends made me play a few games of fortnite with them and i dont find it very addicting but then again i never tried cocaine so i might not find cocaine very addicting either so it might still be as addicting as cocaine . should i sue JK rowling for making the harry potter books addicting because I once reread the entire series in one sitting

[Salv8 (sam)]

parents when suing others for not being able to parent their child:

 

[WkdPaul]

26 minutes ago, givingtnt said:

@wkdpaul I feel shame for the both of us

*Sigh*

 

... That's all I'll say about this ridiculously over the top lawsuit!!

[PlayStation 2]

Some parents just can't take responsibility of anything. They'd rather blame things than to acknowledge that they have no control over their children.

[MoonSpot]

Damn, why do we get these people?  Can we not trade in out Montrealers, Torontonians, and Vancouverites for a Florida man or 2?  We got rid of the beeves; surely we can do this people!

[PCGuy_5960]

Bruh moment. Can't wait for someone to sue El Chapo because they got addicted to cocaine. 

[ARikozuM]

16 minutes ago, Dan Castellaneta said:

Some parents just can't take responsibility of anything. They'd rather blame things than to acknowledge that they have no control over their children.

I would normally agree, but many adults are currently working more than 40 hours a week and don't have much time to take care of children fully. 

[TempestCatto]

Addiction is a result of bad parenting. Teach them about moderation and variety; they'll do well in life.

 

(just my two cents)

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

This could be a very good thing. 

 

With some luck the end result is a ban of Fortnite.  Worldwide, preferably. 

Then they can ban the rest of the games for being addictive as well. 

Once that happens, the prices of GPUs will drop and mining can become profitable again. 

[Trik'Stari]

I really want this to go through so games like this can die the fiery death they deserve.

[Nowak]

20 minutes ago, Trik'Stari said:

I really want this to go through so games like this can die the fiery death they deserve.

Fortnite bad.

[sandvich64]

Comparing video games to drugs is absolutely quickly-conclusive. drugs are addictive because they produce a euphoric effect and most will end with crappy feelings and the urge to feel the same euphoria again. people become addicted to video games because of way more reasons, all unrelated to euphoria and comedowns

[Trik'Stari]

9 minutes ago, Nowak said:

Fortnite bad.

I see what you're doing there.

 

But I'll still defend the position. Games like Fortnite and Overwatch have fucking ruined the industry.

[Nowak]

Just now, Trik'Stari said:

I see what you're doing there.

 

But I'll still defend the position. Games like Fortnite and Overwatch have fucking ruined the industry.

The industry was in decline long before Fortnite and Overwatch popped up lol

 

Money's been the driving force of and will be the death of video games. Chasing trends until people are tired of those trends, yearly releases that flood the market with uninteresting games and giving developers insanely tight development schedules (did you know that Blood II was made in only 11 months, because the publisher wanted a sequel to Blood within those 11 months?) are what's wrong with the industry. Fortnite and Overwatch are just "symptoms" of those problems.

[Trik'Stari]

1 minute ago, Nowak said:

The industry was in decline long before Fortnite and Overwatch popped up lol

 

Money's been the driving force of and will be the death of video games. Chasing trends until people are tired of those trends, yearly releases that flood the market with uninteresting games and giving developers insanely tight development schedules (did you know that Blood II was made in only 11 months, because the publisher wanted a sequel to Blood within those 11 months?) are what's wrong with the industry. Fortnite and Overwatch are just "symptoms" of those problems.

I'd argue that those (overwatch and fortnite) combined with CoD led us to this point. They were each key incidents that were like ringing a dinner bell to moronic short sighted business persons like Bobby Kotick.

[Nowak]

Just now, Trik'Stari said:

I'd argue that those (overwatch and fortnite) combined with CoD led us to this point. They were each key incidents that were like ringing a dinner bell to moronic short sighted business persons like Bobby Kotick.

Well, of course. He's got to have... moneyyyyyyyy.

[Bacon soup]

I have seen crazier things go to court in canada

[Donut417]

1 hour ago, PiGHamM3R said:

Are video games as addictive as drugs? One parental unit in Montreal claims so, and says they have a study to back it up.

Any thing can be adictive. Shit, I have an addication to candy. So my fat ass doesnt eat candy any more. To me this is a bull shit law suit. Should I sue because of my addiction to Twizzlers, Skittles, etc? 

[Trik'Stari]

2 minutes ago, Nowak said:

Well, of course. He's got to have... moneyyyyyyyy.

There's a difference between making money, and making money without and regard to the longevity of your business.

 

One is a good business practice, the other is fucking idiotic business practice that should be discouraged in any way possible.