The Courts Rule on a Video Game "Addiction" Case

Possible implications for other cases...

Currently wending their ways through the courts are multiple lawsuits by families stating that video games or social media “addicted” their kids. These families are seeking money damages. Although attempts to regular video games or social media have, thus far, fallen flat in the courts, I’ve been curious to see how any of these lawsuits would do.

My understanding is that a number of them have been quietly dropped, but we now have the first I’m aware of to actually come to a court decision. This case could set the precedent for other similar video game cases, as well as those regarding social media.

In Angelilli v. Activision Blizzard, Inc., a mother, Jaclyn Angelilli, complained that her son, beginning at age 6 experienced “video game addiction” marked by “…severe emotional distress, diminished social interactions, and withdrawal symptoms such as rage and physical outbursts.” She pretty much sued everyone from Roblox to Goggle to Nintendo.

I’m not a lawyer and I’ll admit parsing through the language is a bit confusing. Most of the excitement appears related to the successful effort by Roblox as well as Apple and Google to be dismissed from the case. Nonetheless, despite the legal murkiness, opinions by lawyers who know stuff seem to come to the same conclusion: this was a legal win for the First Amendment.

There appear to be several key takeaways. Let’s tuck in and have a look: