A new lawsuit has been filed against major gaming companies Roblox, Microsoft, Epic Games, and Mojang AB in Pennsylvania. The lawsuit alleges that the companies encourage compulsive gaming that has led a 15-year-old girl to develop significant social and mental problems.
The lawsuit says that Roblox, Minecraft, and Fortnite have incorporated operant conditioning into their games, offering players rewards to continue playing. Operant conditioning is a learning process where behavior is modified by stimuli.
It says the companies use the “outrageous, unethical, reckless” technique with the goal of increasing the time children spend playing their games.
Girl Suffering From Gaming Addiction
The unnamed girl began playing Minecraft at 6 years old and later extended her gaming to Roblox, Fortnite, Call of Duty, and several other titles. She now plays games for more than six hours a day and suffers a range of problems as a result.
Problems cited in the lawsuit include social isolation, physical inactivity, anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, digestive issues, loss of interest in previous hobbies and entertainment, deceiving family members or others regarding the amount of gaming, and the use of games to escape or relieve negative emotions.
The lawsuit claims that the companies employ psychologists with the specific goal of creating addicted gamers. In addition, they have suppressed the American Psychological Association (APA) from recognizing video game addiction as a disorder. The APA offers a more general definition, placing it under the category of internet gaming disorder.
“This deliberate misclassification has resulted in patient abandonment, leaving children
suffering from video game addiction without access to the necessary medical diagnosis and
Treatment,” says the complaint.
Companies Profiting From In-Game Purchases
The 87-page complaint demands compensation for the girl’s spending on the games. It says each company “is aware that continuous and excessive use of video game products
increases its revenue, as the more time a player spends on its products, the greater the likelihood that the player will make in-game purchases.”
It likens in-game purchases to microbetting, terming small, low-cost purchases as microtransactions, which quickly accumulate to lead to financial losses.
In addition to seeking damages, it also wants the games to display warning messages that they are conditioning players.
Similar Lawsuits Seek Damages
A similar lawsuit was filed against the same companies in March, claiming that they have irresponsibly created addictive games that harm children.
The complaint was filed by the family of an 18-year-old in Michigan. The complaint said that he started gaming at 11 years old and now plays for 12 to 14 hours a day. According to the lawsuit,
“he is incapable of restraining his own usage, as are the people around him”.
Last month, Roblox agreed to pay $23 million to Alabama and West Virginia to settle child-safety investigations. The states claimed that the platform exposed young users to predators, grooming, and sexual and violent content.