'Addictive as cocaine': Parents sue Fortnite creators

MONTREAL — A class action lawsuit has been filed by a Canadian law firm on behalf of two parents who say their children have an addiction to Fortnite.

The law firm representing them, Calex, announced the suit Thursday in a statement.

The lawsuit makes the claim that Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite, “knowingly put on the market a very, very addictive game which was also geared toward youth,” Alessandra Esposito Chartrand, a lawyer with Calex, told the CBC.

The parents say that Fortnite creates a chemical addiction in players by releasing dopamine in a way that is similar to taking drugs like cocaine.

Fortnite allegedly worked with psychologists to make the game as addictive as possible, Calex attorney Jean-Philippe Caron said in an interview with a radio host at Montreal station CHMP-FM.

The lawsuit says that Epic Games should have warned players of the risks they’ll face by playing the game and that the game company knew their creation was “dangerously addictive.”

Fortnite is rated T for teen which means only people age 13 or up are supposed to play it.

Caron says the wildly popular game, which even inspired a World Cup-style competition with a $30 million prize pool this summer, earned Epic Games $2.4 billion last year, according to a Nielsen report.