Lawsuit Claims Addictive Features of Roblox, Fortnite, Minecraft Damaged Child’s Brain

Child allegedly spent hundreds of hours playing video games starting at the age of 3, and now has to continue playing to avoid withdrawal symptoms.

A lawsuit filed late last month claims that the design of popular video games like Roblox, Fortnite, Minecraft and others, which have been aggressively marketed toward children, left a 12 year old Florida boy with a severe video game addiction, after spending hundreds of hours playing on the platforms.

The complaint (PDF) was brought by Vanity Switzer, the legal guardian of a minor identified only as Y.H., in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. It names Roblox Corporation, Epic Games Inc. Microsoft Corporation and Mojang AB as defendants.

Video game addiction, also known as gaming disorder, is defined as a pattern of video game use that becomes hard to regulate, begins to take precedence over daily responsibilities, and persists even when it causes harm. Individuals may experience serious disruptions in their personal, social, school, work or family life. Common signs include constant thoughts about gaming, difficulty cutting back, irritability or distress when unable to play, and continuing to game despite clear negative consequences.

Previous studies have warned that one out of 10 young boys are affected by gaming disorder, potentially exposing them to long-term mental health effects. In response to these findings, video game addiction lawsuits are being filed by parents and caregivers nationwide claiming the companies behind those claims designed their products to addict children and fuel compulsive play.

In addition to allegations of addictive design, a growing number of Roblox lawsuits accuse that platform of becoming a focal point for child sexual exploitation. Families claim that inadequate safety measures have allowed predators to contact and groom young users, resulting in incidents of sextortion, explicit image exchange, in-person abuse and significant psychological trauma.

According to the complaint, Y.H. first started playing video games as young as 3 years old. The child is currently 12 and suffers from gaming disorder, filling every possible moment playing video games.

To date, Switzer estimates Y.H. has spent 971 hours playing Fortnite, 292 hours playing Roblox and estimates a similar range of hours playing Minecraft. The lawsuit indicates that Y.H. cannot control the amount they play, spending five hours playing on school days and about 12 hours on non-school days. She says the child is addicted and must continue to play in order to avoid withdrawal symptoms.

Switzer argues that is by design, with developers placing numerous mechanics in games designed to make play compulsive to children, even going as far as using children’s private data to tailor the algorithms to foster addictive behavior.

“Defendants’ strategies have been extremely lucrative. As a result of each Defendant’s inclusion of addictive programming, code, and algorithms in their respective Products, they have collectively generated billions of dollars, while causing and/or contributing to a public health crisis for minors suffering from addiction to and disordered use of video games.”

– Vanity Switzer et al v. Roblox Corporation et al

The lawsuit indicates Y.H. has suffered severe emotional distress, diminished social interaction, lack of interest in hobbies, academic decline, withdrawal symptoms and an inability to stop gaming. The child has been diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This has contributed to a decline in academic performance, and the child has needed summer school tutoring to maintain his age-appropriate school grade level.

Switzer presents claims of design defects, failure to warn, negligence – design, negligence – failure to warn, negligence, intentional misrepresentation, negligent misrepresentation and fraud. She seeks compensatory and punitive damages.

Video Game Addiction Lawsuits

While Switzer’s complaint joins a growing number of similar claims filed nationwide, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) rejected a request to consolidate all video game addiction lawsuits nationwide late last year.

It was the second time the JPML has refused to centralize these types of lawsuits. The panel rejected a 2024 request to combine cases involving more than two dozen companies and games, arguing that the litigation was too broad and varied to necessitate coordination. The latest attempt cut that number down to just three games. However, the JPML was still not convinced that coordination would streamline the trial process.

The decision means that any video game addiction lawsuits will continue to move forward as individual claims in their respective federal court districts for the time being.

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