Craig Smallwood:Lineage II Gamer Sues NCsoft For Addiction

Addiction to video games has been the cause of some debate recently, with countries such as China have centers dedicated to dealing with this problem.

Many gamers don’t see their game playing as an addiction, it’s more a personal choice, they choose to play the games for the length of time they do. However, one gamer has taken to suing a video game company for getting him addicted to a game.

Craig Smallwood, a Hawaii-resident, is suing NCSoft for making and designing a video game that he claims gave him an addiction that affected his life. During the years of 2004 to 2009, he claims he played more than 20,000 hours of the game Lineage II, and is claiming he is psychologically dependent and addicted to the game.

NCsoft, however, “never gave [Smallwood] any notice or warning of the danger of psychological dependence or addiction from continued play,” according to the case.

Some of Smallwood’s claims were thrown straight out court by a judge, yet didn’t throw out the entire case, and is allowing the claims of negligence, gross negligence, and negligent infliction of emotional distress to continue on for his judgment.

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