Fortnite is one of the most popular video games on the planet these days, but it’s also one of the most addictive and a growing number of children and their parents are seeking to hold the game developer liable.
Both he medical community and the general public are now starting to acknowledge the serious harms associated with video game addiction, also known as gaming disorder. A growing number of gamers and their parents are now filing lawsuits against Fortnite’s developer, Epic Games, alleging harm caused by the game’s addictive nature.
This page will examine the issue of gaming addiction and the unique qualities that make Fortnite particularly addictive. We will also review the claims being raised in Fortnite addiction lawsuits and explore the potential settlement value of these cases.
Video Game Addiction – A Real Disease
Video game addiction is now widely acknowledged as a serious mental health disorder, comparable to gambling addiction. Both the American Psychiatric Association and the World Health Organization have officially recognized “gaming disorder” as a legitimate mental health condition.
Medically, video game addiction or gaming disorder is defined as a pattern of escalating and compulsive video game use, where playing becomes the individual’s primary focus, overshadowing other activities and interests. For a clinical diagnosis of gaming disorder, the addiction must be severe enough to cause significant impairment in personal, social, educational, or occupational functioning.
Symptoms of Gaming Disorder
The clinical symptoms of video game addiction, or gaming disorder, can vary from person to person, but they typically revolve around compulsive or excessive gaming. The American Medical Association (AMA) outlines that gaming addiction can be diagnosed when an individual displays five or more of the following symptoms within a one-year period:
- Preoccupation/Obsession: Constantly thinking about or obsessing over video games.
- Withdrawal: Feeling sad, anxious, or irritable when unable to play.
- Tolerance: Spending more time gaming to achieve the same level of enjoyment.
- Hard to Stop: Struggling to reduce or stop gaming despite multiple attempts.
- Neglect of other activities: Losing interest in hobbies or activities that were once enjoyable due to gaming.
- Gaming despite negative consequences: Continuing to play even when it leads to personal, social, or professional problems.
- Deception: Lying or hiding the amount of time spent gaming from family or others.
- Risk Ignorance: Putting important aspects of life, like relationships, work, or education, at risk due to gaming.
Many of these symptoms, such as preoccupation with gaming, are subjective and depend on the individual’s behavior and circumstances. The compulsive nature of gaming disorder shares similarities with other addictive behaviors, like drug addiction or other compulsive disorders.
Fortnite
Fortnite is a relatively new addition to the world of video games. Developed by Epic Games, it was first released in 2017. The game is an online platform where large groups of players are dropped into a virtual world, interacting with the environment and competing against each other. While there are various game modes, the core objective in all of them is the same: eliminate all other players until you are the last one standing.
What sets Fortnite apart from many other games is that it is free to download and play. There’s no need to purchase a license or physical copy; players only need to create an account and download the game to their chosen gaming platform. Players can enjoy the game entirely for free without any limitations.
Instead of making money by selling copies of the game, Epic Games generates revenue through in-game purchases. Players can buy V-Bucks, the in-game currency, which they can use to purchase customizations and other features. Today, Fortnite has become one of the most widely played video games, with millions of active players around the globe.
🎮 Fortnite Addiction Lawsuit Criteria 🎮
- 🕹️ Age Requirement: Gamer must be under 24 years old at the time of filing.
- ⏳ Gameplay Hours: Gamer must have played Fortnite for at least 2 hours per day over a minimum period of 5 weeks (totaling at least 70 hours).
- ⚕️ Medical Diagnosis: Gamer must have a clinical diagnosis of gaming disorder or a related condition, such as **gamer’s rage, depression, anxiety, seizures, or orthopedic injuries.
- 🏥 Medical Treatment: Gamer must have received some medical treatment for gaming addiction or a related condition.
If you or a loved one meets these qualifications, our law firm believes you may be eligible to pursue legal action.
Is Fortnite As Addictive As Heroin?
Fortnite is often considered one of the most addictive video games available today. Some have even compared it to drugs like cocaine and heroin in terms of its addictiveness. Like all video games, Fortnite keeps players “hooked” through a process known as intermittent reinforcement. When a player wins or succeeds, the brain’s pleasure center is activated, releasing dopamine and creating a rewarding sensation that encourages them to keep playing. However, if victories become too predictable, the excitement fades—similar to how eating your favorite dessert too often can make it lose its appeal.
To avoid this, games like Fortnite are deliberately designed to make victories unpredictable. The excitement comes not only from winning but from the anticipation of success. Each loss fuels the desire to keep trying, as players’ brains chase the dopamine rush that comes with the next potential win. This cycle of reward and anticipation keeps players engaged and craving more.
While this type of design is common in many video games, Fortnite amplifies the addictive reward system more than others. A key factor is its “winner-takes-all” format, where the ultimate goal of being the last player standing offers a sense of reward that is often more intense than in other games. Some of the many features that make Fortnite more addictive include:
- Regular map and game world updates and changes, with themes and challenges designed to continue stimulating the addictive response in the brain
- Levels and other “career” achievements that enable players to reach certain long term goals
- Daily updates in the game shop
Fortnite Addiction Injuries
Excessive Fortnite gameplay can have serious and far-reaching effects on a player’s mental, cognitive, and physical health, raising significant concerns about its impact on overall well-being.
Mental Health Injuries
Prolonged gaming can lead to dependency, destabilizing emotional health. Players may experience increased anxiety, depression, and mood swings as they prioritize in-game accomplishments over real-life responsibilities and relationships. This dependency can lead to social isolation, particularly among younger players, who may withdraw from family, friends, and school activities to spend more time gaming.
Cognitive/Neurologic Damage
Excessive gaming has been linked to changes in brain development, especially in children and adolescents. Studies suggest that prolonged exposure to games like Fortnite can affect the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for impulse control, decision-making, and critical thinking. These changes may impair emotional regulation, increase susceptibility to compulsive behaviors, and hinder the ability to manage priorities effectively.
Developmental Injuries
The cumulative effects of these issues can significantly impede a child’s social, emotional, and academic development. Over time, excessive gaming can contribute to chronic anxiety, difficulties forming social connections, and long-term physical health problems due to neglecting basic self-care and activity.
Physical Injuries
The physical toll of extended gaming sessions is also concerning. Poor posture during play can lead to musculoskeletal problems, including back and neck pain, while repetitive motions can cause strain injuries in the hands and wrists. Additionally, prolonged screen time can disrupt sleep patterns, leading to fatigue and potentially hindering growth and development in children.
Kids With ADHD At Higher Risk
It is well known that children certain groups are more prone to video game addiction than others. Adolescents with neurological conditions, such as attention deficit disorder (ADD) or ADHD, face an increased risk of developing video game addiction, especially with games like Fortnite. Individuals with ADHD often have difficulty with impulse control, making it harder for them to disengage from highly stimulating activities. This greatly heightens their susceptibility to gaming addiction.
Beyond their higher likelihood of addiction, children with ADHD and similar conditions are also more vulnerable to the mental and physical health problems typically linked to gaming disorder. ADHD already presents challenges in focusing and learning, and an addiction to Fortnite can intensify these difficulties, further affecting their academic performance and overall well-being.
Fortnite Addiction Lawsuits
Lawsuits are being filed across the country by young individuals and their families who have experienced harm due to video game addiction, particularly gaming disorder associated with highly addictive games like Fortnite. These lawsuits seek financial compensation for the damages caused by the addiction.
These cases are classified as product liability lawsuits, in which manufacturers can be held accountable if their products cause harm to consumers. Product liability law typically involves three main claims: (1) failure to warn, (2) design defect, and (3) manufacturing defect. The Fortnite lawsuits primarily focus on two of these claims: failure to warn and design defect.
Negligent Failure to Warn
The main claim in the Fortnite addiction lawsuits is negligent failure to warn. Manufacturers have a legal responsibility to inform consumers of any potential risks or harms related to their products. If they neglect to provide proper warnings, they can be held accountable for any resulting injuries.
The lawsuits argue that Epic Games negligently failed to warn consumers about the addictive potential of Fortnite. Specifically, they claim Epic has failed to inform users about the harmful effects of video game addiction or highlight that certain groups, such as individuals with ADHD, are at higher risk. Plaintiffs contend that Epic’s failure to provide these warnings directly contributed to the injuries and harm experienced by numerous users.
Defective Design
The lawsuits also assert that Epic Games should be liable because the Fortnite game defectively designed with the intent to make it addictive. Under product liability law, manufacturers can be held liable for design flaws that render a product inherently dangerous or harmful when used as intended.
The plaintiffs argue that Fortnite and similar games were deliberately engineered to maximize addictiveness through features such as reward systems, repetitive gameplay loops, and psychological triggers. This intentional design, according to the lawsuits, has caused significant harm to players, making Epic liable for damages.
These lawsuits aim to hold Epic accountable for failing to address the risks associated with Fortnite and for designing a product that poses a significant danger to vulnerable users.
Fortnite Addiction Class Action Lawsuit
If you or a loved one has suffered from video game addiction due to Fortnite, you may have seen talk about a possible class action lawsuit. Right now, the Fortnite addiction lawsuits are not part of a consolidated class action or Multi-District Litigation (MDL)—at least, not yet.
A motion was filed to bring all video game addiction lawsuits into an MDL, which would have grouped them together under a single federal judge for pretrial proceedings. However, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) denied that request. Many were sad there would be on fortnight class action action lawsuit for personal injury claims. Our lawyers were not sad.
Why? Because an MDL can sometimes slow things down. Instead of fast-tracking cases to trial, an MDL often results in years of pretrial motions, discovery, and negotiations before plaintiffs see any resolution. This is great for a lot of things, notably pretrial discovery. But an MDL class action lawsuit would cause a huge delay. By keeping these Fortnite lawsuits separate, video game addiction lawyers can push individual cases forward more aggressively and get to trial sooner.
This means that if you or your child has developed a gaming disorder, gaming-related injuries, or severe psychological effects from Fortnite addiction, you may still have a strong case—just not in the form of a traditional class action lawsuit. Instead, your claim will likely be filed individually, where it has the potential to move more quickly through the courts.
Potential Settlement Value of Fortnite Addiction Lawsuits
It’s always very hard to make predictions about the potential settlement value of lawsuits that are comparatively new and untested like the video game lawsuits. None of these cases have gone to trial so we don’t know how juries will react to them. In order to offer projections about video game lawsuit payout, we have to make a number of significant assumptions about the strength of these cases and the evidence supporting them. If we assume the cases are good, we can project their likely value based on settlement payouts in prior mass torts.
Right now the video game addiction lawsuits are not consolidated into a class action MDL, so its not entirely clear whether the settlement will follow the similar global settlement structure that we see in those cases. Assuming that we get some type of global settlement, payouts individual cases will be based on a ranking system in which individual cases are ranked in tiers. The highest tier will be the strongest cases with the highest settlement value.
1st Tier – Severe Injuries: $300,000 to $2 Million
Plaintiffs classified in the highest settlement tier will be limited to those who have suffered life-altering or catastrophic injuries due to their gaming addiction. These injuries would likely result in significant and permanent physical or mental health impacts. Settlement payouts for these cases could range from $300,000 to $2 million. This would not be your average claim. It is hard to envision the average Fortnite addiction settlement rising to $300,000. But for more serious claims, this settlement range is not an unreasonable expectation.
2nd Tier – Moderate Injuries: $60,000 to $300,000
The next tier down will cover plaintiffs who experienced moderate injuries, such as severe but temporary harm that did not result in lasting impairment. Settlement payouts for these cases are expected to range from $60,000 to $300,000.
3rd Tier – Minor Injuries: $5,000 to $50,000
The lowest settlement tier will address plaintiffs with relatively minor injuries related to their gaming addiction. These cases will involve less severe impacts and, as such, are expected to result in smaller payouts, typically ranging from $5,000 to $50,000.
While these estimates are speculative, they offer a framework for understanding how settlements may be structured in Fortnite addiction lawsuits. As the litigation develops, further insights will emerge, allowing for more accurate revisions of these estimates.
Fortnite Lawsuits Could be Worth More
Lawsuits related to Fortnite addiction are likely to have a higher settlement value compared to other video game addiction cases. This is primarily because Fortnite is considered more addictive than many other games. Additionally, Fortnite’s status as the most popular game involved in such litigation and the generally younger average age of its players contribute to its higher potential settlement value. These three factors combine to give Fortnite addiction claims an increased settlement worth.
Contact Us About Video Game Addiction Lawsuits
Our firm is accepting Fortnite addiction lawsuits across the country. Call us today for a free case evaluation. Call us at 800-553-8082 or contact us online.