Minecraft will be at the center of a key hearing in the Los Angeles Superior Court on October 21, 2026, when Judge Lawrence P. Riff will take up motions from Microsoft, Roblox and Epic Games to dismiss lawsuits accusing game makers of deliberately designing mechanics that cause addiction in children. The case is part of the consolidated proceeding JCCP No. 5363 and, besides Microsoft and Mojang, also covers Activision, Google and Apple.

Allegations against Mojang and Microsoft

The parents suing the company claim Minecraft was designed to drive compulsive play, using mechanisms known from behavioral psychology. In one lawsuit, a father wrote that the defendants "designed Minecraft using psychological principles such as operant conditioning to increase engagement and encourage disordered gaming habits." The mechanisms described in the lawsuits are largely elements players know from everyday gameplay, and which our Minecraft wiki describes in detail.

  • Random rewards in mining and the loot system, on a variable reinforcement schedule
  • Open-ended, endless gameplay with no natural stopping points
  • Social pressure from multiplayer
  • A Marketplace tied to the virtual currency Minecoins
  • Insufficient warnings for families and weak parental controls

Two rejected motions for a joint proceeding

Lawsuits against Minecraft, Fortnite and Roblox have been bouncing between courts for two years. In June 2024, the federal Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation rejected the first motion to create a joint MDL No. 3109, finding the cases too varied. The second motion, MDL No. 3168, which focused on just three games, also failed in December 2025, with the panel ruling that the proceeding would become unmanageable with so many defendant companies.

Since then, the main forum for the disputes has been a California state court, where the cases were combined in JCCP No. 5363, overseen by Department 534 of the Stanley Mosk Courthouse. The parties are currently in the discovery phase, and document disclosure has already begun in the Fortnite cases.

October 21: a free speech fight

At the upcoming hearing, Judge Riff will hear motions from Roblox, Microsoft and Epic Games to dismiss the claims on First Amendment grounds, arguing that game design is a protected form of artistic expression. It's one of the defendants' three main lines of defense, alongside arbitration clauses in terms of service and the claim that children's problems stem from preexisting conditions such as ADHD or depression rather than the game itself. Another status conference in the same case is scheduled a week later, on October 28.

A precedent from the Meta and Google case

The stakes are higher after March's verdict in a similar case, JCCP No. 5255, brought against Meta and Google over social media addiction. A Los Angeles jury awarded $6 million in damages, which lawyers following the case say shows a local jury is willing to accept an addiction theory based on deliberate product design when aimed at a major platform. For the defense of Microsoft and Mojang, it's a clear warning sign ahead of the October stage of the proceedings.

New lawsuits arrive every month

Alongside the joint proceeding in California, separate lawsuits against Mojang and Microsoft are being filed in courts across the United States almost every month. In January 2026, a New York resident filed a 56-page lawsuit describing a child's anger, property destruction and sleep disorders. In May, a teenager from Nevada sued Roblox, Epic Games, Microsoft and Mojang all at once, accusing the companies of using "psychologically manipulative systems." In July, a Mississippi resident joined in, claiming his addiction developed as early as age 4, and in August another father accused Mojang of knowingly using operant conditioning.

So far, none of these cases has ended in a settlement or verdict, and lawyers representing the families mention potential damages of $100,000 to $300,000 per case, though these are only estimates, not confirmed by any agreement. Judge Riff's response to the motions to dismiss on October 21 may decide whether this stage of the dispute ever reaches a jury trial. We're following the whole case in our news section and will return with updates right after the hearing.

Sources