Man Sues Bethesda Over His Fallout 4 "Addiction" - Report

According to a report from Russian state media RT, a man from Krasnoyarsk is suing Fallout 4 developer Bethesda over his "addiction" to the RPG, which he claims led to him losing his job and wife, among other things. He's seeking 500,000 roubles (around $7,000) for emotional distress (via Destructoid).

The man saw an advertisement for Fallout 4 and downloaded the game, intending to only play "for a couple of evenings." But that's not what happened. He apparently skipped work to play Fallout 4, which led to his termination. The RT report also says the 28-year-old stopped hanging out with friends, while his wife left him, and his health started to fall apart apparently as a result of constantly playing the game.

"If I knew that this game could have become so addictive, I would have become a lot more wary of it," he said in a statement to RT. "I would not have bought it, or I would have left it until I was on holiday or until the New Year holidays."

According to RT, there has never been such a case in Russia. The man's legal representation claim they want to "see how far we can go regarding this case." A Russian localization company is also named in the lawsuit.

There is some precedent globally, however. In 2010, a Hawaiian man sued Lineage II developer NCSoft, claiming that he was "unable to function independently in usual daily activities such as getting up, getting dressed, bathing, or communicating with family and friends" as a result of his "addiction" to the game. He claimed to have played 20,000 hours of the game between 2004 and 2009, according to Wired.

A federal judge allowed the case to proceed. RT reports that the court actually sided with the man, somewhat at least, ordering NCSoft to pay his legal fees.

We've contacted Bethesda in an attempt to get more details.