Microsoft sued for video game addiction?!

For what games? I guess for one... you played too much Redfall.

Have game companies like Microsoft and Epic Games knowingly caused video game addiction in kids? According to a new lawsuit filed in Arkansas, that's the case.

The lawsuit, filed on October 30, states that that Microsoft, Epic Games, Activision Blizzard, EA, and others"use patented designs, algorithms and marketing containing addictive features and technology"leading to addiction.

These designs and "addictive features", the claim says utilized data collection of minors, predatory monetization schemes, and feedback loops to keep players more engaged.

https://insider-gaming.com/microsoft-and-epic-games-named-in-lawsuit-for-causing-video-game-addiction/

Well, at least we know for sure it wasn't Halo Infinite. Whew! Dodged a bullet there

I guess MS first party has been so lacking that kids are resorting to drugs.. tisk, tisk, Microsoft.

give the addicted 3 hours of Forspoken and Quantum error and their afflictions will disappear

@saint-george said:

give the addicted 3 hours of Forspoken and Quantum error and their afflictions will disappear

Man, if only people were addicted enough to Xbox to recommend it to their friends, then maybe it wouldn't be a third place console anymore

Lol! Just read the lawsuit. The mom is suing because her 13 year old son is addicted to Fortnite, Call of Duty, Battlefield and Rainbow Six Siege. So she is suing Microsoft because he uses and Xbox and then she is suing the developer of each of those 4 games for making her son addicted to gaming.

Any chance that 13 year old child can sue his parents for being bad parents?

Smart kid though. Has an Xbox. He knows PS has no games.

That is dumb af.

@BenjaminBanklin said:

@saint-george said:

give the addicted 3 hours of Forspoken and Quantum error and their afflictions will disappear

Man, if only people were addicted enough to Xbox to recommend it to their friends, then maybe it wouldn't be a third place console anymore

It isn't a 3rd place console anymore..

PlayStation is..

@saint-george said:

@BenjaminBanklin said:

@saint-george said:

give the addicted 3 hours of Forspoken and Quantum error and their afflictions will disappear

Man, if only people were addicted enough to Xbox to recommend it to their friends, then maybe it wouldn't be a third place console anymore

It isn't a 3rd place console anymore..

PlayStation is..

True.

You know what's coming...

But we all know you Secretly love it!!! lolol :P

@saint-george said:

give the addicted 3 hours of Forspoken and Quantum error and their afflictions will disappear

Man, that Pic is bizarre... Is it real? Dude looks like someone stole his ps5 on launch night in the parking lot.

@TheEroica: Looks like it was made using AI

That actually makes it funnier! 😂

I will agree that microtransactions and their marketing towards children are somewhat predatory, but at the end of the day I blame the parents about 80%.

Honestly I don't know how parents can even sit their kids down in front of a device like a phone or console before they're out of 8th grade, let alone give them the financial independence to even purchase these things.

I used to be somewhat critical of my sister for limiting her kids' time in front of screens because the world is only going to put more emphasis on tech as time goes on, but the more I read about what companies are doing, the more I think it was the right decision on her part.

@mrbojangles25: Some parents are not actively parenting but they are being parented by their kids.

This is true. The shit they get away with these days, man, I never would have even dreamed of that. Nor would my folks have allowed it haha. Oh, not eating your dinner? Then go to bed. You want me to cut the crust off your bread? Hahaha no, son....no.

On the flipside, though, I can sometimes understand why parents might cave. "FOMO" is very real and if your kid's friends have phones, play games together, etc....not letting your kid have access to those things is very isolating to them, can impact their social life.

I still view it as a failure in parenting, but at the same time I don't want to sound like the old man going "Back in my day we didn't play Fortnite! We built forts! Outside! In the snow! Out of cardboard!"

*shrug* Idunno man.

@mrbojangles25: Balance is the job of the parent. No need to isolate.

Lawsuit sounds dumb.

@TheEroica said:

@saint-george said:

give the addicted 3 hours of Forspoken and Quantum error and their afflictions will disappear

Man, that Pic is bizarre... Is it real? Dude looks like someone stole his ps5 on launch night in the parking lot.

i stole it of KvallyX 🤣

So says someone who claims to own an Xbox. Oh, wait - TWO. Because "no games" warrants multiple consoles and Game Pass subscriptions, right?

I have never even tried using Chat GPT A.I and seeing how it becomes very useful. That pic above is very creepy.

Imagine going to the court system instead of parenting your children. These are the same folks that wanna rely on government regulation to keep them from spending too much money on microtransactions.

Via the story, the kid in this case is 13 years old (at the time of the legal case) and has an:

- Xbox Series X

- Nintendo Switch

- His own phone

- Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription

- His parents bought him: Call of Duty, Rainbow Six, Battlefield and Fortnite.

- He also plays through the Cloud on his phone.

- Also had access to the Google Play Store and Xbox Store.

But its Microsofts fault?

Credit when credit's due. ;)

It's kinda tough to get addicted to 8 hour movie games.

The kid is addicted to something it surely couldn't be the parents fault in the slightest, it must be a multibillion company, the 5g Antennas or maybe the immigrants.

Mmm-hmm

My child is addicted to video games!

My child is addicted to social media!

My child does smash and grabs!

My child commits grand theft auto!

My child gets in shoot outs!

Same question every time…where are the parents? It’s always someone else’s fault. It’s Kia’s fault. It’s Meta’s fault. It’s Apple’s fault. It’s never the parents fault.

So his "parents" (im using thst term loosely) are buying him all this stuff, but they want to sue someone else because the child became addicted to the things they bought him 🤦‍♂️

this kind of issue is a big problem nowadays, especially with social media, comics, tv shows, video games and so much more. I think of all of them, video games is the least addictive, at least for me.

Its really the parents job to set boundaries, limits and guiding their kids. But you bought them every console on the market plus a smart phone. MS and co should counter sue the parents for every dime they have.

Basically sued every major publisher? Yeah, their in-game purchases are shitty, but stop giving them access to your CC. Sadly, it probably also boils down to other friends also getting whatever they want.

So I guess all MMO makers should be sued to oblivion since their entire business model is based on predatory practices.

@BenjaminBanklin: Halo AND Redfall in one insecurity post.

Impressive.

@kvallyx: The mother is allowing her son to play live-service games and then complaining they’re addictive. :-S

Parents need to take responsibility.

This doesn’t make any sense, especially since the Xbox series is one of the poorest selling console ever

Most online games have warnings in the agreement you have to agree with to even login for the first time before playing... all these games have their ass covered. The mom is an idiot and it sound like she needs to step up to the plate and stop using games and social media as a babysitter.

I personally really enjoyed coop in Halo Infinite. Certainly not a perfect game, but I thought it was fun.