Soon, Canadian justice will work on a class action accusing Epic Games, designer of the video game ‘Fortnite’, of creating addiction among its players in Canada.
Heroin, cocaine…
Three parents accuse’Fortnite‘ to be at the origin of a dependency similar to that which might “create heroin or cocaine”evoking symptoms “physical and psychological”such as migraines, pain or even “significant social unrest”. The judgment, rendered on Wednesday December 7 and which authorizes this appeal, of the 3 young people cited, one would have been diagnosed with cyberdependence while another, 13 years old at the time, would have played 7,781 games in 2 years, “at least three hours a day”. According to national media like Le Figarothe plaintiffs also claim that ‘Fortnite’ would encourage “overspending”.
The three parents ask for “moral and material damages as well as the restitution of benefits”, in particular the reimbursement of purchases made by underage players. In addition, representatives ofEpic Games declare that the proof is “insufficient”and that there is no expert report or even “medical record which establishes a diagnosis of dependence” and studies on the effects “undesirable of a video game“.
> To read also: Epic Games: Fortnite will withdraw from China
“Dangerous and Harmful”
Soon, Epic Games will have to defend itself before the Quebec courts for having developed and marketed a product “dangerous and harmful”for failing to disclose its risks, and for having “damaged miners with its personalized currency system”according to sources.
Last April, the designer had already spent 26.5 million US dollars (as much in euros) in North Carolina as for the purchases of its virtual currency by young people who were not yet of age.
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