Court cases alleging Roblox, Epic Games, Microsoft, Sony, and more gaming industry giants to be perpetrators of video game addiction have reportedly been dismissed voluntarily by the plaintiffs.
Roblox, Epic Games, Microsoft, and More Sidestep Video Game Addiction Lawsuit
Game EULAs Usually Provide Class-Action Waivers
Recent lawsuits accusing Roblox, Microsoft, Sony, Epic Games, Activision Blizzard, Take Two Interactive, and Rockstar Games of perpetuating video game addiction have reportedly been withdrawn by the plaintiff. As shared by news site Game File, the game addiction cases were filed in the US states of Ohio and Arkansas on behalf of minors, but have since been dismissed by the accusers.
The lawyers representing the gaming industry giants were said to invoke protections under the First Amendment, a set of Constitutional rights that enables Americans to remedy grievances. According to Game File, the companies' lawyers stated that "the plaintiffs should be bound by user agreements that mandate arbitration, not lawsuits."
The lawyers pointed out that, in playing or installing games, there are User Agreements—which generally are available to read at any point in time—that the plaintiffs and those concerned become bound to. The defense also cited a mandate for arbitration, a form of mediating legal disputes, instead of lawsuits.
Usually, companies' User Agreements are prefaced with statements that require your acknowledgement of certain terms. In Epic Games' case, their End User License Agreement (EULA) states a class-action waiver provision. This could mean that cases users take to court have higher chances to be dismissed. As such is stated in Epic's EULA: "You and Epic agree to resolve disputes between us in individual arbitration (not in court). We believe the alternative dispute-resolution process of arbitration will resolve any dispute fairly and more quickly and efficiently than formal court litigation."
Those who take grievances to a class-action level would have a difficult time to go through with proceedings or are simply not allowed, and so, as assumed, the lawsuits were dropped by the plaintiffs.
Source:
EPIC GAMES STORE END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT
Two games addiction lawsuits dismissed
