Can You Really Be Addicted to Video Games?

• Excessive gameplay is a symptom of a larger problem, like anxiety or depression.
• The fear of possible addiction arrises from moral panic about new technologies, not scientific research or clinical data.
• Making excessive gaming a disorder can harm the gaming industry by stigmatizing their products. 

Experts refer to addiction as a complex behavioral disorder that joins biology, psychology, social environment and culture.

Addiction is now defined as a compulsive engagement in a rewarding experience despite severe consequences.

• 2+ billion people worldwide play video games 
• A typical gamer in the US spends 12 hours playing each week.
• 60% of gamers neglect sleep to keep playing.
• 40% of gamers have missed a meal.
• In 2018, people worldwide spent a collective nine billion hours watching other people play video games on a streaming service.
• South Korea passed a Shutdown Law in 2011, which prevents anyone under 16 from playing games online between midnight and 6 a.m.

With the help of hired scientists, game developers have employed many psychological techniques to make their products as unquittable as possible.

• First, players are enticed with easy and predictable rewards.
• To keep players interested, many games employ a strategy called intermittent reinforcement, in which players are surprised with rewards at random intervals.