Fortnite Potentially Facing Class-Action Lawsuit for Being Too Addictive

A law firm based out of Montreal is looking to file a class-action lawsuit against Epic Games on the grounds that Fortnite is addictive and that some of its players have become hooked. Calex Légal announced that it has requested authorization to move forward with its lawsuit against Epic Games with the parties behind the lawsuit being the parents of two minors between the ages of 10 and 15. The law firm said Epic Games looked for ways to make the game "as addictive as possible."

CBC reported on the lawsuit that's in the works from Calex Légal and spoke with Alessandra Esposito Chartrand, an attorney within the firm who was contacted by the parents of the two minors. The legal notice filed by the parents equated the effects of Fortnite to that of cocaine, and after digging into it, Chartrand said Calex Légal found "there was a strong case for it."

The legal firm's site confirms that this lawsuit is in the works and calls for those who might be concerned with the effects Fortnite's having on them to get in touch. It also confirms that the law firm is going after Epic Games and the company's Canadian subsidiary.

According to Chartrand, the basis of this lawsuit relates to another suit where the Quebec Superior Court ruled that tobacco companies didn't properly inform their customers of the dangers associated with smoking. Chartrand alleged that the company made the game as addictive as it could by hiring psychologists as it "dug into the human brain."

"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," Chartrand told CBC.

The lawyer continued to say Epic Games "knowingly put on the market a very, very addictive game" which was then directed at younger players. The parents who are behind the lawsuit said they would've never let them start playing Fortnite if they knew it'd be so addictive.

"In our case, the two parents that came forward and told, 'If we knew it was so addictive it would ruin our child's life, we would never have let them start playing Fortnite or we would have monitored it a lot more closely,'" Chartrand said.

Epic Games itself is no stranger to legal battles. The developer has pursued legal action against cheaters and has been faced with lawsuits itself every since Fortnite exploded in popularity.