Children refuse to eat or shower in order to play Fortnite, parents sue Epic Games

In what can only be described as bizarre, Fortnite’s creator Epic Games has been hit with yet another lawsuit. Unlike previous times when lawsuits dealt with copyright infringements of dance moves for emotes or the dreaded Apple vs. Epic fiasco, the latest lawsuit has to do with excessive playtime.

It states that the children (players) in question have stopped eating, sleeping, and showering as a result of the addiction. Based on the information cited in the lawsuit, one of the children has played over 7,700 hours of Fortnite in less than two years.

According to reports from the BBC, a Canadian Supreme Court judge has approved a class-action lawsuit brought forward by three parents who claim their children have become addicted to playing the game.

While this lawsuit may seem frivolous to say the least, Quebec Superior Court Justice Sylvain Lussier has stated otherwise. In other words, the lawsuit will proceed without obstruction. However, it’s left to be seen what comes of it.

How has the community reacted to this latest Fortnite lawsuit?

Given that the game doesn’t specify players to play for a fixed amount of time, to most within the community, the lawsuit seems like a joke. A user by the name of PhilaDoop stated:

“You *can* sue anyone for anything at any time. Doesn’t mean you’ll win though.”

Considering that the game is free-to-play, even approaching the matter from a monetary perspective (if needed) would fall short. Furthermore, given that the game does provide parental controls, suing developers over extended playtime makes no sense as the onus of limiting playtime falls on the parents.

The majority of those within the community resonate strongly with this sentiment. Most of the comments on social media openly mocked the lawsuit and are dumbfounded by the fact that it was allowed to proceed at all. Here are a few reactions:

@Rap fortnite being compared to cocaine ?

@Rap fortnite being compared to cocaine ??

@Rap Parents would rather sue a whole company than be a parent

@Rap Parents would rather sue a whole company than be a parent?

One user by the name of SeldomMercer seemed so infuriated by the filing of this “non-frivolous” lawsuit that they sarcastically recommended that all popular games should be sued for “being addictive.”

Will Epic Games overcome this latest Fortnite lawsuit?

While the parents may have a strong personal stance against the developers, there is no evidence to suggest that Epic Games “forced” the children to play the game. Even if it can be said that the children were playing to level-up and complete the Battle Pass, it’s their decision alone.

Epic Games has clearly stated that neither the Battle Pass nor CREW are needed to play Fortnite, which holds true even after five years. That said, it’s the parent’s responsibility to ensure that their child does not overdo playtime.

Looking at the circumstances and logical facts, Epic Games is very likely to come out on top of things. Aside from the community backing them, from a legal standpoint, developers cannot be blamed for someone getting addicted to their product – especially when it’s the parent’s responsibility to supervise the use of the said product (Fortnite).

With the lawsuit moving forward, there will likely be an update from Epic Games’ legal team as well. However, given that the legal proceedings take time, it’ll be a few months before new information is made available to the public.