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Can You Beat a Gaming Addiction?

Photo from Jose Gil via Unsplash

Can You Beat a Gaming Addiction?

By Movieguide® Contributor

Video games are undeniably one of the most popular forms of entertainment, however, as their popularity continues to grow, so does their negative impact on people’s lives.

The video game industry is a $200-billion-in-profits-per-year behemoth that has taken the world by storm. In the past two decades, video games have gone from a somewhat niche pastime to a leisure activity enjoyed by nearly all young people (85% of teens). However, as studios look to generate as much profit as possible, they have introduced industry norms that wreak havoc on developing brains.

Features such as loot boxes or rewards based on playtime have brought the addictiveness of video games in line with that of gambling. The impact video games have on young brains has become so pronounced that in 2019, the WHO classified a new mental disorder: “gaming disorder.”

People who suffer from this disorder forgo real-life responsibilities, such as work, eating or sleeping, in order to spend more time gaming. While the condition is often fueled by underlying problems in a person’s real life, gaming companies are nonetheless to blame for the addictive products they have created.

A class action lawsuit filed earlier this year looks to establish this culpability by holding them responsible legally while also requiring them to change the industry norms. Meanwhile, addiction experts have begun to search for ways to help those struggling with the disorder.

A clinic in the UK, for example, opened in 2019 and expected to treat 50 patients a year who were struggling with video game addictions. As of June 2024, they have been referred over a thousand patients.

It has become increasingly clear that video game addictions have started to go out of control, and until legislation is introduced to hold these companies responsible, it falls on parents to protect their kids from its effects.

As with all media, Movieguide® advises parents to have conversations with their kids about the content they are consuming in their video games. Furthermore, Movieguide® suggests parents encourage their kids to find hobbies outside of gaming so they have other outlets for leisure and fun.

Nonetheless, the popularity of video games makes them almost impossible to completely cut out of young people’s lives, leaving the door open for an addiction to develop.

Movieguide® previously reported on the gaming industry:

The video game industry saw an incredible bump during the pandemic, and after an unusual 2023, the upcoming year will set the new standard for the industry’s future.

A new report from DDM Games recapping 2023 found that apart from the colossal $68.8 billion Microsoft acquisition of Activision, the financial movement within the video game industry was down from 2022. Much of this change stems from the industry moving from a period of booming during the pandemic back towards a period of normalcy.

Total investment within the industry dropped from $14.08 billion across 951 deals in 2022 to $4.4 billion across 616 deals in 2023. Last year’s numbers, however, are still up over 2019, showing overall growth within the industry.

2023 was also a down year for the industry as a whole as many major studios cut their workforces, which ballooned during the pandemic. Unity and Microsoft both cut over 1,000 jobs in their games divisions last year, while Riot Games laid off 500 workers. Tangentially, Amazon’s Twitch streaming platform laid off 500 workers as it looked ahead to a more sustainable future.


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