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Fortnite has made headlines yet again in the public eye as it has been called upon by a Canadian court following a case that was filed in 2019.
The developer, Epic Games, has come under fire by three parents who filed a class-action lawsuit that was just given a green light by Quebec Superior Court of Justice, Sylvain Lussier. This means that the prosecution may proceed with their lawsuit and Epic will have to bring their best foot forward to defend themselves.
The legal situation has been a bit tough on Epic Games this past year. The latest lawsuit filed by the parents has brought a serious issue of video game addiction in kids to light, and is something that the legal authorities can't ignore.
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This comes months after Epic lost their two-year-long lawsuit against Apple Inc. against their app store prices and third-party app policies. The former launched an entire Ninenteen Eighty Fortnite campaign against them in-game. Through it, Epic mocked their 1984 ad and portrayed the tech giant as the ultimate evil by locking their users into paying high prices.
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However, the lawsuit did not end up in Epic's favor as they did not have a strong suit to defend themselves against Apple's strict store policies, which were in place before Fortnite hit the App Store. This resulted in the game being removed from Apple's store.
"We plan to fight this in court": Epic Games on the 2019 Fortnite addiction lawsuit's approval in Canada
Yesterday, the lawsuit was approved by the Quebec Superior Court of Justice, stating that the parents had "valid product liability claims against Epic," and that they did not consider the claim to be frivolous or ill-founded.
The parents allegedly claimed that the game has had a highly addictive effect on their children, who developed "severe addiction" to Fortnite. These included spending hundreds of dollars in-game on V-Bucks, sometimes without parental consent.
They also claimed that their children wouldn't sleep, eat or shower, and would play the game endlessly. This led to one of the children developing "cyberaddiction," which was diagnosed as a disease by their doctor.
Moreover, the attorney from the prosecution's side, Alessandra Esposito Chartrand, said the following regarding the lawsuit back in 2019:
"Epic Games, when they created Fortnite, for years and years, hired psychologists - they really dug into the human brain, and they really made the effort to make it as addictive as possible. They knowingly put on the market a very, very addictive game which was also geared toward youth."
The attorney also claimed that if they win the lawsuit, Epic would have to refund all the money spent on in-game currency by individuals across Canada below 15 years of age.
Moreover, they also said that Fortnite is as addictive as tobacco or cocaine and the lawsuit requires as much attention as the one that the Quebec tobacco industry received years ago.
Epic Games had some strong remarks in their defense against all the claims alleged by the plaintiffs and their lawyers. A spokesperson said the following when asked about the lawsuit:
"We have industry-leading Parental Controls in Fortnite that empower parents to supervise their child’s digital experience. Parents can receive playtime reports that track the amount of time their child plays each week, and require parental permission before purchases are made, so that they can make the decisions that are right for their family."
They further went on to say:
"We have also recently added a daily spending limit by default for players under the age of 13.We plan to fight this in court. This recent decision only allows the case to proceed. We believe the evidence will show that this case is meritless."
As the drama between Epic Games vs. The Parents continues in Canada, the player community and parents who support their children's pursuit in gaming have made some strong remarks against the prosecution's lawsuit, openly calling it "dumb."
The community also went on to lay emphasis on how the parents should have monitored their children's playtime and activities in Fortnite.
Meanwhile, Epic has started asking players to verify their age, post a recent update. They will now see a one-time request for their age when they log into Fortnite. If they are younger, their profile will be a "Cabined Account" and they will be asked to provide a parent's email address.
