The individuals behind the hit game Fortnite are reportedly being accused of developing the game in a way to make it addictive. The Canadian lawsuit is seeking a class action status and likens the title’s gameplay to taking cocaine.
The legal notice was filed in Quebec Superior Court and it accused the US-based video game company Epic Games of designing Fortnite to intentionally hook players. The game, according to the lawsuit, is so addictive that players have had to undergo treatment for their addiction.
"The addiction to the Fortnite game has real consequences for the lives of players: Several don't eat or shower, and no longer socialize," the legal notice reads.
Fortnite is known for matches with 100 players. Each player fights against the others on a virtual battlefield. Since Fortnite's launch in 2018, it quickly gained massive success and international popularity. As a matter of fact, it became one of the biggest free-to-play titles on consoles ever. The game is a massive hit that has managed to pull off a cultural phenomenon capable of raking at least $3 billion for developer Epic Games last year. Right now, the title boasts around 250 million users worldwide.
Jean-Philippe Caron, the lawyer who spearheaded the lawsuit, said that the creators of Fortnite enlisted the help of "psychologists to help make the game addictive." Caron even went to suggest that Epic Games failed to "warn about the risks and dangers inherent in their product." Interestingly, similar accusations have been lodged in lawsuits in the past against other entities, most of which are tobacco companies.
"They knowingly put on the market a very, very addictive game which was also geared toward youth. In our case, the two parents that came forward [said], 'if we knew it was so addictive it would ruin our child's life, we would never have let them start playing Fortnite or we would have monitored it a lot more closely,” Caron added.
As of this writing, Epic Games has yet to respond to the accusations, let alone the lawsuit Caron filed in court.
