You can't sue us for making games 'too entertaining,' say major game developers in response to addiction lawsuits
You can't sue us for making games 'too entertaining,' say major game developers in response to addiction lawsuits
Microsoft, Rockstar, Epic, and others are being sued for using "addictive psychological features" in games like Minecraft, GTA 5, and Fortnite.
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It would help the prosecution's case if there first was scientific evidence of there being such a thing as gaming addiction, and not just boomers arguing it because they think kids these days should go outside more.
It's not a gaming addition that's the problem, it's that many of these games basically follow the same playbook that casinos do. They're gambling disguised as a video game.
It would help if the lawsuit was actually focused on lootboxes, microtransactions, and the like as harmful gambling.
But it doesn't. The lawsuit claims video games themselves being good creates an addiction.
Well that's fucking stupid
Yes, but that's not what this story is about, and they don't cause gaming addiction, they cause gambling addiction. You can't get addicted to gaming itself.
You can get addicted to literally anything, but that has more to do with your personality than the vice. I knew a guy who was addicted to advil. Didn't have chronic pain or anything, but couldn't stop taking it.
I feel like this is more of an OCD issue, rather than addiction. Did he get an official diagnosis by anyone?
I mean, there kinda is. Gambling addiction is a fairly well known phenomenon and while the vast majority of games aren't purely gambling, many of them do share mechanics with gambling games. One could argue that if a game shares too many mechanics normally seen in gambling and are associated with addiction, then gambling addiction could apply.
Another thing to note is that, if I understand correctly, the modern professional definitions of "addiction" aren't exclusive to substance abuse but include anything that can cause someone to repetitively engage in a particular behavior despite any negative effects it may have. You could argue that if someone is engaging in gaming to the detriment of their own lives, then they're addicted. That doesn't necessarily mean it's the developers fault though, people can get addicted to just about any system that triggers some kind of reward in the brain.
However, to add onto the previous statement, it is fairly well documented that some games (World of Warcraft is an infamous example) are specifically designed to keep players engaged for as long as possible without any regard for the player's wellbeing. If a game has a lot of systems that are designed to keep the player hooked for as long as possible then it's reasonable to argue that the game is designed to be addictive. The catch is that you'd likely have to prove that the developers were being intentionally malicious.
So, what exactly does Minecraft (one of the primary games mentioned in the lawsuit) do to cause this? Because that seems like a major outlier compared to the other listed games.
I was speaking in a general sense. You're right that it seems like an outlier, but it's also possible they were playing on custom servers which could implement addictive mechanics like lootboxes. However, at the same time, it's not the fault of Minecraft's devs if a custom server has lootboxes. Again though, I was speaking in a general sense because I was replying to someone saying that gaming addiction is unproven boomer shit; and not about this specific case.
That's gambling addiction, which is researched and does exist.
Gaming addiction, on the other hand, is purely speculative and often pushed by people who do not understand or like games.
While, yes, a game can have login bonuses and season passes to raise player retention, that also doesn't become addiction, just as having a membership card with bonuses at a grocery store isn't going to land you with a grocery addiction.
It doesn't become gaming addiction just because the game utilizes exploitative mechanics, it becomes gambling addiction, or whatever addiction the mechanic was made to exploit. Gaming addiction in itself is as stupid of a concept as soccer addiction or book addiction.
It would help the prosecution's case if there first was scientific evidence of there being such a thing as gaming addiction
There's already evidence, and studies showing how u can also develop an addiction (which basically applies to everything and anything).
But-t we aint talking about games in general, we r talking about those games focused solely on lootboxes and "surprise mechanics" as ubisoft likes to call their digital casinos.
Im also a gamer dude, and thats why we need to recognize when theres a problem in the industry instead of trying to ignore it.