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Russian becomes addicted to Fallout 4, loses wife & job, takes legal action

It turns out "one more game" can have hidden dangers

Russian becomes addicted to Fallout 4, loses wife & job, takes legal action
22 December 2015

Fallout 4 is addictive. Preventing yourself from exploring "just one more bombed-out block of flats" takes the same mental discipline as not finishing a freshly opened packet of Jaffa Cakes.

One Russian man discovered this to his detriment after downloading Bethesda's new post-apocalyptic role playing title for a "quick game". English-language Russian news site RT reports that the 28-year-old man from Krasnoyarsk saw his initial gaming session last an eyeball-splitting three weeks

During this marathon slog he apparently stopped attending work and seeing his friends - resulting in the loss of his job, his wife walking out on him and the rapid deterioration of his health.

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

Aggrieved by his new-found addiction, he's now suing Fallout 4's creator Bethesda Game Studios and Russian localisation firm SoftClub for 'emotional distress' to the tune of 500,000 Rubles (£4,722).

Should it progress to a court hearing, it will create a new precedent in Russian law (no Russian has taken legal action for their own gaming stupidity before), with the law firm representing the 28-year-old suggesting they want to "see how far we can go regarding this case".

With no additional Russian sources reporting the case, we're not sure if it's nothing more than a plausible end-of-year hoax. We asked Bethesda, but they are refusing to comment on the matter.

If it is a true story, we'd love to meet the guy. We need to pick his brains on how to take on The Glowing Sea quest...

[Via: RT]