This week, Epic Games was hit with a class-action lawsuit and Sony lifted the veil on its next-generation console.

Epic Games faces class-action lawsuit over “Fortnite addiction”
A Canadian legal firm has filed a class-action lawsuit against Fortnite publisher Epic Games this week over “Fortnite addiction.” The lawsuit claims that Epic Games purposefully curated Fortnite to be addictive, citing Epic’s hiring of psychologists and statisticians to assist in the development of the popular title. The lawsuit also claims that the level of dopamine – or pleasure hormone – released in the brain after extended periods of Fortnite play mirrors the effects of addictive stimulants such as tobacco and cocaine. USA Today, CNET, PC Gamer, and TechNode recalled the World Health Organization’s decision to add “gaming disorder” to the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems earlier this year after a slew parents accused video games, such as Fortnite, to cause unhealthy, addictive tendencies in their children. 

Sony unveils release date, key features of the PlayStation 5
In an interview with WIRED this week, Sony revealed official information about its next generation console. Unsurprisingly confirmed as the PlayStation 5, the console will include hardware that supports ray-tracing, improved haptic controllers, and a built-in Solid State Drive (SSD) to improve game performance and reduce load times. PlayStation 5 game discs will have a capacity of 100GB, eliminating the need for publishers to release games on more than one disk, and the console will come equipped with a 4K Blu-ray disk drive. The console will also enable users to better manage the content they have saved on their SSD. TIME explains, “That means you can save space on your drive by removing a game’s lengthy single player story while keeping the multiplayer experience on hand for continued play.” Digital Trends was impressed with the PlayStation 5’s features and stated, “The PlayStation 5 is shaping up to be a powerhouse that can go toe-to-toe with Xbox Scarlett.” The PlayStation 5 will be available in the holiday season of 2020.