A Somerset County mother is suing the makers of three of the most popular online games claiming that they knowingly created addictive products that harmed 9-year-old son.
Casey Henderson filed the lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Maine on behalf of her son against Roblox, Epic Games, Microsoft and Mojang.
Epic Games makes Fortnite. Mojang developed Minecraft and sold it to Microsoft.
The lawsuit accuses the gamemakers of ignoring “known risks” to minors from excessive use of their products in favor of “programming that exacerbated these risks to increase their profits.”
Henderson alleges in the lawsuit that her son started playing the defendants’ video games at age 4 and “continues to use video games at an increasing, uncontrollable, compulsive, and/or addictive pace.”
As a result of being addicted to gaming, the boy’s academic performance has fallen off and he “experiences insufficient sleep and impaired concentration.” Taking the games away leads to “severe withdrawal symptoms including anger, and refusal to maintain proper hygiene or sleep,” the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit cites numerous studies on the harmful effects of video games on the brain development and the mental health of children and teens, and includes a timeline showing a shift in gamemakers’ design and marketing strategy from one-time purchases toward microtransactions that create a profit motive to keep users playing the game for as long as possible.
The lawsuit alleges the companies knew the age of Henderson’s son and still targeted him with “manipulative programming to prolong use of their products” in hopes of getting the child to spend more money in the game.
Additionally, it claims the companies led Henderson and her son to believe the games were safe for minors and did not include sufficient safety features or warnings.
The lawsuit says the child sustained injuries that “are permanent and will require more medical care and treatment in the future.”
Henderson is seeking damages, “including pain and suffering and emotional distress,” past and future economic damages, medical expenses and attorneys’ fees.
