Force online games to include a ‘time out’, says addiction expert

FIRMS behind online games such as Fortnite should have to introduce selfexclusion software for addicted players to take time out to cure their condition, says the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

In evidence to the Commons culture committee, Dr Henrietta Bowdenjones, a leading expert on addiction, said such exclusions had successfully weaned gamblers off their addiction.

The software, agreed with clinical experts, would treat gaming addicts and be available for life. The Royal College also wants an option built in for players to limit how long they play in any one day.

Just as the gambling industry enforced the banning of addicts from betting establishments or online, Dr Bowden-jones, founder of the National Problem Gambling Clinic, believed gaming firms had the technology to replicate it for addicted gamers.

She also said banks should let parents block spending on video games in the same way that addicts can block gambling transactions on their accounts.

It follows the decision last year by the World Health Organisation to recognise gaming addiction as a clinical condition, meaning sufferers qualify for NHS treatment. “Most of our gambling patients are abstinent very much because of this [self-exclusion] technology,” said Dr Bowden-jones. “Translating this to the world of gaming would allow people to pre-commit to a specific time.”

The college also wants automatic pop-up messages to tell players to stop after a fixed period.

The Daily Telegraph has been campaigning for a statutory duty of care to force tech firms to do more to protect children from online harms. Dr Bowden-jones said gaming addicts were typically boys or young men aged 12 to 20 who withdrew into gaming, where they would feel compelled to stay online 24 hours a day to keep up with other players across time zones.

Dr Daria Kuss, of Nottingham Trent University, said the symptoms of gaming addiction were similar to other addictions. “They have lost relationships, lost custody of their children and lost their jobs as a consequence of excessive gaming,” she said.

The committee is also investigating video game features called loot boxes, that let players buy randomised packs of in-game rewards, which have been linked to gambling.

Dr David Zendle, of York St John University, said loot boxes made gaming companies £22billion last year.