I don't know of any case studies about online games having addictive qualities, but I'm sure the dozens of people who have died from lack of sleep or eating because of the way certain games are designed is probably a good indication that they are or at the very least have a high chance of becoming one.
Of those who have died while gaming, don't think I've ever heard of a lawsuit against said companies and if there was, I didn't hear about anyone winning anything, except for maybe some tiger blood.
No one told them to stop eating or sleeping, if company have to be responsible to the time they eat then same could be said that mcdonalds cause obesity, but does mcdonalds as a corporation shove all those burger into people stomach?. People have to be responsible for themselves not companies, people have free will or did they sign their soul to the devil to be a slave? BTW there are lawsuit for it, the judge just threw it out, because he said corporation are not baby sitter. It's a simple common sense.
No, you apparently don't understand liabilities in the business world. As stupid as it may sound, McDonalds was sued by an elderly woman because SHE spilled coffee on herself. Granted, the coffee may have been excessively hot, but with your single train of thought process, you'd blame the elderly woman because it's not McDonalds fault she wasn't more careful.
Then you have all those pieces of electronics, you know, the ones with warning labels everywhere about being shocked or possibly killed. If companies aren't responsible for what their products are capable of doing, why do they all have warning labels?
Addiction is a medically proven issue among not just a dozen or hundreds of people, but rather millions. Alcohol, drugs, smoking or chewing tobacco, gambling and yes, even gaming. It's a company's responsibility to warn customers of any and all possible side effects of their products.
I get why companies post the stupid warning labels on their products. They're trying to defend themselves against frivolous lawsuits. The McDonald's coffee lawsuit is a famous example of exactly the sort of frivolous lawsuit that occasionally results in a huge payout.
Sometimes, warning labels are entirely appropriate. Sometimes there are non-obvious risks that could cause serious harm. Medicines should tell you how much a dose is so that you don't overdose, and what the known side-effects are, for example.
But warning labels about things that are incandescently obvious to any moron shouldn't be necessary. Do you really think that the woman wouldn't have spilled the coffee if only it had a warning label on it saying that the coffee might be hot?
As a result of the McDonald's lawsuit, I once got a mug that came with a warning label that the contents may be hot. The mug was empty when I got it. And my thought at the time was, someone is going to put liquid nitrogen in it, spill it, and then sue the company that made the mug saying, you didn't warn me that the contents that I put in there myself may be cold.
I don't like Fortnite or the current state of Epic Games but I have to side with them on this one. Blame the parents for enabling their children's addictive behavior. It isn't Epic's fault the parents are terrible at disciplining their children and establishing an important balance with technology.
Are there some steps to be taken to prevent children from being subject to intrusive and predatory advertising? Absolutely, but until lawmakers and politicians start proposing such changes, this legally lies entirely within the fault of the consumers. These parents trying to sue Epic have demonstrated they lack personal accountability and it makes me fear for future generations to come.
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Are there some steps to be taken to prevent children from being subject to intrusive and predatory advertising? Absolutely, but until lawmakers and politicians start proposing such changes, this legally lies entirely within the fault of the consumers. These parents trying to sue Epic have demonstrated they lack personal accountability and it makes me fear for future generations to come.