In Canada, a judge authorizes a class action once morest Fortnite on the grounds that the latter would create addiction.
This is a decision that might well pave the way for other similar actions. In Quebec, a judge authorized for the very first time a video game class action lawsuit on the grounds that it might have caused a cyberaddiction to minors. The game in question is the very popular Fortnite. The court hearings will take place in Montreal on July 6 and 7.
In Canada, a judge authorizes a class action once morest Fortnite
The parents of three players adolescents accuse the Fortnite game, from the studio Epic Games, to create a dependency similar to that of cocaine or heroin, with, for symptoms, in particular, sleep disorders, migraines, an inability to eat or go to the toilet. One of the young people even played nearly 7,000 games, or regarding 42 full days, in this free game that relies on pleasure and rewards, a well-known and widely used mechanism that promotes addiction.
on the grounds that the latter would create addiction
The judge who accepted this class action is well aware that research is still too rare to hope to be able to link the practice of a video game to any addiction, but he rightly recalls that it took very long years to establish this cause and effect relationship in the case of cigarettes. And today there is no doubt that the manufacturers of tobacco products have done everything to make smokers addicted to nicotine. If it is not a question here of establishing this relationship of cause and effect, this action might advance the question and raise awareness.
This class action also concerns the money spent by the teenagers. A game like Fortnite, with its many in-app purchases, can be a real money pit. One of the young people thus invested nearly €4,000 to buy virtual currency and progress faster in the game. For Epic Games, Provide is a real goose that lays the golden eggs, with more than 4 billion euros in revenue in 2021 alone.
