Stephen S. Wu-- SL: Legal Writer, swu@svlg.com, (408) 573-5737, 50 W. San Fernando St., Ste. 750, San Jose, CA 95113

Video Game Addiction Case Closed

Whatever happened to the video game addiction case I wrote about in 2010? The case was Smallwood v. NCsoft Corporation, No. 09-00497 ACK-BMK (D. Haw.). In the suit, Smallwood said that he became psychologically dependent on and addicted to NCsoft’s Lineage II game. Last November, the Court abruptly dismissed the case following a final pretrial status and settlement conference. Although the docket doesn’t say it, the most likely interpretation of the dismissal is that the parties settled the case before trial. Read More...
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Case Based on Addiction to a Video Game

Users of video games and virtual worlds joke about how addictive they can be. Few users, however, have thought about suing the game company for creating such an enjoyable playing environment that the game or world actually becomes addictive in an unhealthy way. Yet, that is exactly what a Hawaii resident named Craig Smallwood did. In a case entitled Smallwood v. NCsoft Corporation, No. 09-00497 ACK-BMK (D. Haw.), Mr. Smallwood claimed that he became psychologically dependent on and addicted to NCsoft’s Lineage II. In a decision issued in August, the federal district court in Hawaii permitted Mr. Smallwood’s case to move forward. For a copy of the court’s decision, click here. Read More...
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