Join The Texas Video Game Addiction Lawsuit

If you believe your child has a video game addiction and you would like to join the ongoing lawsuit against game developers, call us today at (866) 434-0014 for a free consultation today!

Game developers like Epic Games, Rockstar Games, and Roblox Corp. didn't accidentally create addictive products. They hired behavioral psychologists and neuroscientists to engineer games specifically designed to keep minors and young adults playing, spending, and unable to stop, and families across Texas are now fighting back through civil litigation.

At Sneed & Mitchell LLP, we routinely represent plaintiffs harmed by the predatory practices of some of the largest corporations in the world, and we won't allow their size or resources to shield them from full accountability.

What These Lawsuits Actually Allege

These aren't general complaints about screen time. The lawsuits filed against developers and publishers of games including Fortnite, Roblox, Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto 5, Rainbow Six, and Battlefield allege that these companies deliberately engineered addiction in minors and young adults by implementing psychological manipulation tools, predatory monetization schemes, and feedback loop technologies designed to maximize play time and in-game spending at the expense of one of the most vulnerable populations in our country.

Loot boxes, microtransactions, time-limited rewards, and pay-to-win mechanics are among the specific design features called out in litigation as tools these companies routinely deployed to exploit impulsive behavior in young players, in ways that kept them spending real money chasing outcomes with probabilities as low as .08%. It has also been alleged that some developers went as far as patenting specific strategies designed to stimulate and addict players while collecting individual player data including spending habits and available funds to manipulate how paid offers were presented to maximize purchases.

No warning was ever given to players or their families about these risks, and the lawsuits allege the companies could have implemented safeguards including purchase limits for minors and time restrictions on gameplay but chose profit over protection instead.

The Real Harm Gaming Addiction Causes

The World Health Organization formally recognizes gaming disorder as a mental illness, and the DSM-5 defines internet gaming disorder as a pattern of excessive and prolonged gaming resulting in cognitive and behavioral symptoms similar to those of substance use disorders. Research published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience found that gaming addiction produces functional and structural changes in the brain's reward system, the same system activated by chemical substance addiction, including the same dopamine driven withdrawal symptoms such as anger, irritability, and physical outbursts when games are taken away.

Families here in Texas dealing with gaming addiction see this harm firsthand through declining grades, school dropouts, job loss, destroyed relationships, social withdrawal, poor sleep and hygiene, and an inability to control time spent gaming despite knowing the consequences. Studies have also linked excessive gaming to anxiety, depression, ADHD, obsessive compulsive disorder, and in a first of its kind review published in 2022, suicidal ideation. Physical injuries including carpal tunnel syndrome, trigger finger, tennis elbow, and digital eye strain are also documented consequences of excessive gaming that our litigation regularly accounts for.

Do You Qualify to File a Video Game Addiction Lawsuit Here in Texas?

You may qualify if you are between 18 and 22 years old and became addicted to an internet or cloud based multiplayer video game that included microtransactions, played for a minimum of three months, and suffered negative effects as a result including mental health problems, academic or professional consequences, or physical injuries tied to excessive use. Parents and family members acting on behalf of minors who meet these criteria may also have standing to pursue a claim.

Our trial attorneys will evaluate your situation by reviewing gaming history, medical records, documented symptoms, and the financial and emotional harm your family has suffered, and we build every case individually because the harm caused to these children and young adults is severe enough to warrant individual litigation rather than a class action.

What Compensation Can Families Recover?

Families who successfully pursue video game addiction claims may recover compensation for medical costs including therapy and medication, emotional distress, pain and suffering, loss of society and companionship, and other monetary damages such as money spent on tutoring or academic recovery resulting from gaming related academic failure. The financial toll of in-game purchases driven by these predatory systems is also a recoverable loss our trial attorneys routinely document and pursue.

Gaming addiction litigation is still developing here in Texas and across our state, and while no guaranteed settlement amounts exist at this stage, our team consistently positions every case for the strongest possible recovery by retaining psychological experts, financial specialists, and medical professionals who can quantify every dimension of the harm your family has suffered.

Contact Sneed & Mitchell LLP Today

Sneed & Mitchell LLP is known statewide for routinely taking on the largest corporations in the world and winning, and we won't allow game developers and publishers to hide behind corporate structures while Texas families suffer the consequences of their deliberate decisions. Our trial attorneys carry over 60 years of combined experience, have recovered over $100 million for clients across our state, and we handle every video game addiction case on a contingency fee basis, meaning you pay nothing upfront and owe us nothing unless we win.

Sneed & Mitchell LLP is a national personal injury law firm with offices in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and Austin, Texas and is reachable at (866) 434-0014. If your child or young adult has suffered from video game addiction, call us today at (866) 434-0014 or send us a message online and we will contact you immediately. Your family's future matters. Let us fight for it.