Canadian justice will soon consider a class action accusing the developer of the Fortnite video game, Epic Games, of creating addiction among its followers in Canada.
Three parents accuse Fortnite of causing an addiction similar to the one that “can create heroin or cocaine”citing symptoms “physical and psychological” such as “migraines”of the “back pain” as well as “significant social unrest”. According to the judgment, delivered on Wednesday and authorizing this appeal, of the three minors cited, one would have received a diagnosis of cyberaddiction while another, aged 13 at the time, would have played 7,781 games in two years, “at least three hours a day”, sometimes until the middle of the night. The plaintiffs also allege that the shooter and survival game “would encourage excessive spending”.
Although it is free to download, users can purchase V-Bucks, a virtual currency, in order to obtain in-game accessories, such as outfits or dances. One of the children cited in the collective action would have spent more than 6,000 Canadian dollars (4,100 euros) and “would have gone so far as to say that he was the victim of a fraud”, told AFP Jean-Philippe Caron, one of the two lawyers who filed the request. The lawyer thought “satisfied” and “confident” for the following, considering the “evidence” which support the various cases he defends.
Read alsoVideo games: what are their real effects on health?
The three parents and their lawyers are asking for “moral and material damages as well as the restitution of benefits”, including reimbursement of all underage player purchases. For their part, representatives of Epic Games argue that the proof is “insufficient”referring to the absence of “expert report”of “medical record which establishes a diagnosis of “addiction” and study on “adverse effects of a video game”.
In the months to come, the video game designer will have to defend himself before the Quebec courts for having developed and marketed a product “dangerous and harmful”, for failing to disclose the risks, and for harming minors with its personalized currency system. In April, Epic Games had already reached a US$26.5 million settlement in North Carolina related to purchases of its virtual currency by minors.