Epic and Roblox Sued for Allegedly Creating Deliberately Addictive Games

A San Francisco lawsuit accuses Epic and Roblox of deliberately exploiting game addiction through "operant conditioning" and "behavior modification systems." The plaintiff, 23-year-old Dawson Little, claims that playing Fortnite and Roblox as a minor left him with severe emotional distress, anxiety, depression, and a decline in grades that led to academic dismissal. The filing is widely criticized as sloppy and likely to be thrown out, though it raises the broader issue of gambling-derived compulsion loops in games aimed at children.