I feel like we see this more in mobile where so many games can feel like slot machines, and I think those type of games need to be more closely monitored by consumer protection agencies than they probably are.įortunately, all a game like Fallout 4 can devour is time. I have absolutely seen definite “harm” come from many games, in particular “free” mobile titles which vacuum up the free time of anyone from teenagers to middle-aged housewives, some of whom dump ungodly amounts of money into the microtransactions of the games, hopelessly addicted to the title. Netflix come with a warning that you could get sucked into watching five seasons of Breaking Bad in a row and neglect all your other social and financial responsibilities during that time?īut while this situation does seem goofy, I do think there’s a bit of truth lurking in the shadows here. Problem is, you could easily extend that to other forms of media. I think we’re past the days of potential labels stating video games lead to violent behavior (which has literally been suggested in the past), but labels regarding addictiveness? I don’t think that’s entirely out of the realm of possibility.

Once you start talking about potentially labelling gams like cigarettes, you get into dangerous, kind of stupid territory. Could I sue for “emotional distress” because the game didn’t come with a warning about how I might get hooked on it? Almost certainly not. I, for example, did not really understand just how addicted I would get to a game like Destiny, which I have now sunk at least 500 hours into over the past year. I am not dismissing the idea that video games can be dangerously addictive in some cases, but suing for “emotional distress”’ about the addictiveness of one game is legally a tough sell. It’s really muddy water, and I don’t think there’s a clear case here, or in any other case like it. Where is the line drawn? Are you “addicted” to a game if you sink 50 hours in? 100? 300? 1000? 20,000? Over what period of time? Do negative things have to happen in your life as a result in order for it to “count”?

I’ve played Fallout 4 for probably 200 hours so far, which may qualify as “addictive,” but again that’s another question.

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