Three new lawsuits filed in California against Epic Games and Roblox over addiction claims

Three new lawsuits were filed in California against Epic Games and Roblox, alleging the companies design addictive games using gambling-like mechanisms. The cases, brought by plaintiffs from New York, Ohio, and Florida, claim harm caused by these practices and were submitted by the legal firm Parafinczuk Wolf this month.

Three copycat lawsuits have been filed in California against Epic Games and Roblox, alleging that the gaming companies knowingly design addictive games using gambling-like mechanisms to increase player engagement and spending. The complaints replicate over 80% of the text from a March lawsuit that also named Microsoft, but the new filings only target Epic Games and Roblox. All three complaints were submitted by the legal firm Parafinczuk Wolf, which specializes in cases involving injuries from consumer products and medicines.

The lawsuits argue that the companies use operant conditioning—a behavioral learning process involving rewards and punishments—to foster harmful addictions in players, including minors. The complaints state this practice exposes children to “the same psychological techniques used by casinos without adequate warning.” Unlike recent legal actions against Valve focused on underage gambling, these complaints emphasize that Epic Games and Roblox intentionally create addictive game environments.

The plaintiffs in the California lawsuits are Joshua Tucker, Dylan Kaiser, and Andrew Lawrence, all aged between 20 and 22 and residing in New York, Ohio, and Florida. They report having started playing video games between ages five and seven and continuing to play compulsively and at an uncontrollable pace. These allegations follow a similar March complaint filed on behalf of an 18-year-old Michigan resident with comparable claims of addictive gameplay.

Legal experts note that while a similar argument led to a $6 million judgment against social media companies Meta and Google earlier this year, no plaintiff has yet recovered damages from a video-game publisher based on addiction. Previous lawsuits involving titles such as Fortnite, Roblox, and Call of Duty have survived early legal challenges but rarely resulted in substantial verdicts. Should any of these new complaints succeed, a rise in copycat lawsuits targeting gaming companies could follow.